The Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) are providing assistance to the Border Guard at the Vartius crossing point in Kuhmo on Sunday. Troops are helping to build a temporary barrier in preparation for a potentially protracted situation in the Kainuu region.
Vartius became the southernmost border station early Saturday when Finland closed four points further south. That followed a steadily rising number of undocumented third-country asylum seekers arriving at the border, which Finnish officials said was orchestrated by Russian authorities as a means of hybrid pressure.
Unclear if some arrivals actually want to go to Finland
Shortly after 11 am, the border was closed at Vartius as Finnish and Russian border authorities began negotiations on procedures regarding asylum seekers.
There were about 10 cars, mostly carrying Russians and Finns, waiting in a queue to enter Russia at the time. Many more vehicles were waiting by the time the border re-opened to traffic around 1:30 pm.
Finnish border authorities negotiated with their Russian colleagues at the border barrier. Some of the third-country citizens who had been pushed onto the Finnish side of the border barrier have not applied for asylum, so were being asking whether they actually wanted to go to Finland.
According to border station director Jouko Kinnunen, restrictions were needed because Russian authorities were actively, systematically bringing people to the area and directing them across the border.
He said that they pushed people through the border opening and then closed the gates behind them, making it impossible for them to return to Russia. Kinnunen said there were signs that some people had been obliged to cross the border against their will.
One border crosser told Yle that Russian border guards had let people from third countries past the line of cars waiting to enter Finland at the Lyttä border station, across from Vartius.
Shortly before 1:30 pm, Border Guard international affairs director Matti Pitkäniitty said in a social media post that traffic at the Vartius border crossing point had been temporarily halted.
"Bicycles left on border line hinder traffic. Finnish authorities cannot go to Russia to remove bikes," he wrote.
"Situation completely under control"
The deputy commander of the Kainuu Border Guard, Tomi Tirkkonen, said that the FDF would only provide construction help, not military assistance in guarding the border.
"The situation is completely under the control of the Border Guard," he told Yle on Sunday.
"The Kainuu border guard is building barrier devices in the area so that it can ensure public order and safety in this prevailing disturbed situation. The FDF is providing official assistance to the Border Guard," explained Tirkkonen.
He added that a permanent border fence is to be built around Vartius next year.
A Finnish Customs x-ray scanning truck has also been brought to the Vartius border station. Such large mobile devices are used for Customs inspections at ports and border crossing points. According to Customs authorities, the devices help intercept significant numbers of smuggling attempts every year.
73 arrivals on Saturday, 4 via Nuijamaa, two through the forest
On Saturday, 71 asylum seekers arrived at the border crossing points on the eastern border, 67 of them through Vartius. Four came through the Nuijamaa border station even though it officially closed just after midnight on Friday night.
"At some point, they were all able to bypass or pass through the obstacles, and thus reached the Finnish side," Jukka Lukkari, deputy commander of the Southeast Finland Border Guard, told Yle later.
Finnish officials said that their Russian counterparts have sealed off the Russian side of the border after forcing asylum-seekers out toward Finland in freezing conditions, regardless of whether border stations are open.
At least two other individuals illicitly crossed the border through the forest between official crossing points. Two walked over the land border near Rautjärvi, between Imatra and Kitee in South Karelia before applying for asylum. The Border Guard of Southeast Finland is investigating the case.
Altogether 284 people crossed the border at Vartius on Saturday, most of them Finnish and Russian citizens. On Saturday that number could rise to around 1,000, border station director Kinnunen predicted in the morning. Only a small fraction of those are expected to be third-country asylum seekers.
Kinnunen said that the asylum seekers who arrived on Saturday were "forced across the border by Russian officials".
"In the evening two persons crossed the green border (area outside border crossing points) illegally in Southeast Finland. In Kainuu and other Border Guard Districts night was normal. No asylum seekers or illegalities at the border," Pitkäniitty said on social media on Sunday morning.
Later in the morning, the day's first two asylum seekers arrived in heavy snowfall. The border is always closed to other traffic while asylum seekers are escorted through it.
No asylum seekers were seen near the border crossing points in Salla and Inari in Finnish Lapland on Sunday.
Elina Nurmi, head of the reception unit of the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), told Yle on Sunday that most asylum seekers who have come across the eastern border recently are from Somalia, Syria, Yemen and Iraq.
Border protest in Lappeenranta
On Sunday some 200-300 people demonstrated outside the town hall in the eastern Finnish city of Lappeenranta, demanding that at least one southern border post be re-opened. Most were Russians living in Finland who have family on the other side of the border.
To be updated.
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