Finland is urging the EU to take action against increased migration from Russia. These are primarily migrants without valid travel documents.
Finland has called on the European Union to take joint measures to prevent what it calls “instrumentalized migration”.
As the news agency “Reuters” reports, this primarily means an influx of migrants from Russia who arrive without valid travel documents. Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo made this demand on Tuesday.
Last year, Finland closed its border with Russia to stop increasing numbers of arrivals from countries such as Syria and Somalia. Finland also accused Moscow of using migration as a weapon against the country and the EU – an accusation that the Kremlin firmly rejects, according to Reuters.
Despite the Finnish border closure, some migrants have continued to arrive in the country. That’s why the Finnish government submitted a proposal to parliament on Tuesday that would allow border authorities to turn away asylum seekers trying to enter from Russia.
“We must put our national security and the security of EU countries first. We are very aware of our responsibility to control the external border of the European Union,” Orpo said at a press conference.