Ahead of the summer recess, Finnish lawmakers are set to vote on a new law that would allow border guards to use force if necessary to return asylum seekers to Russia.
Under the proposed legislation, Finnish border guards will be able to call on thousands of reservists to help patrol the frontier. They will also be able to detect migrants’ phone signals, as well as send migrants to detention centers.
Proponents of the the law argue that it is necessary as new arrivals are being used as part of Russia’s hybrid warfare against the West.
The Finnish government, led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo of the center-right National Coalition Party, admits that the proposal is in tension with international agreements. However, it argues that other means are insufficient to combat the influence of a foreign state, such as Russia, on Finland.
Late last year, Finland shut all crossing points indefinitely after some 1,300 migrants from nations such as Syria and Somalia arrived via that route. In April this year, it extended those closures.
Since then, only a few dozen asylum seekers have crossed the heavily forested border into Finland due to efforts by border guards on both sides.
Yet, Helsinki believes the Kremlin is still prepared to flood Finland with migrants at any time—something Moscow has strongly denied.
Russia has instead accused Finland of manufacturing the border situation, so as to “implement the plans of NATO and, above all, the United States to deploy military field infrastructure and deploy foreign troops on their territory, including in areas bordering Russia,” the head of the Russian Federal Security Service’s (FSB) border service, Vladimir Kulishov, told the state-run RIA news agency on May 28th.
Relations with Moscow have deteriorated significantly since Finland abandoned decades of military neutrality to join the U.S.-led NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022.
The proposed legislation coincides with a first test for Finland as a NATO member state. On Tuesday, Finland’s defense ministry said a Russian aircraft had entered Finland’s airspace for approximately two minutes on Monday morning.
Finnish officials said they are taking the “suspected territorial violation seriously” and an investigation has been launched.
Russia confirmed that it had multiple bombers and missile carriers operating in the Baltic region but did not specifically comment on the alleged airspace breach.
