On Friday, July 12th, the Finnish parliament passed a border security law proposed by the country’s right-wing government, authorizing border guards to prevent asylum seekers from Russia from entering the country. The legislation is temporary, with a validity period of one year from the date of enactment.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Interior Minister Mari Rantanen held a press conference in the parliament hall on Friday to discuss the latest border security legislation. They emphasized that the new border security law aims to uphold Finland’s national security and sovereignty.
Orpo stated, “It is important that we have legislation in place to combat weaponized migration and ensure that public authorities can take action even in the most challenging border situations.”
Rantanen added, “Russia is using weaponized migration to attack Finland. Finland is a country of rule of law, and we cannot accept anyone using immigration issues for hidden agendas.”
Following two votes during the plenary session on Friday, the parliament passed the law. The first vote declared the bill as an emergency measure with a vote count of 167 to 31, and in the second vote, the law was passed with the same count of 167 to 31. The bill required a two-thirds majority vote in the 200-seat parliament to pass.
The law has sparked controversy, with some opposition party members, scholars, legal experts, and human rights organizations arguing that the law conflicts with the Finnish constitution and international human rights commitments as per the United Nations regulations.
Finland has accused neighboring Russia of encouraging a large number of immigrants from countries like Syria and Somalia to cross borders and weaponize immigration, though the Kremlin denies these allegations.
Since early August 2023, over 1,300 undocumented immigrants have crossed the border from Russia into Finland within three months. As a result, Finland closed its 1,340-kilometer land border with Russia at the end of last year.
Helsinki believes that Moscow’s encouragement of immigration crossings is in retaliation for Finland’s joining NATO, which supports Ukraine in resisting Russian invasion.
Finland’s actions are in line with measures taken by other European countries like Poland and Lithuania in recent years to reduce the likelihood of immigration crossing from Russia and neighboring Belarus.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Finland and Sweden abandoned their non-aligned stance and applied for NATO membership. Since officially joining NATO in April 2023, NATO’s border with Moscow has doubled.
On Tuesday, July 9th, Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen signed three agreements at the NATO summit in Washington, including the NATO Airspace Summit Declaration, a memorandum of understanding on continued alliance space surveillance, and an intention letter for multinational cooperation in developing and deploying alliance cloud and edge service software.