Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) on Sunday said the government was preparing a deportation law that would prevent those attempting to cross the border from seeking asylum.
This legislative proposal has drawn criticism from the opposition, whose support the government needs to pass the law.
Speaking to the press on Yle Radio 1, Orpo said the situation at the eastern border had not changed, which is why the government this week chose to indefinitely extend the closure of all checkpoints.
According to Orpo, there are hundreds or even thousands of third-country nationals in Russia willing to come to Finland illegally. If it wants, Russia can multiply the number of arrivals, the PM noted.
"The threat is evident," Orpo said, adding that he found it plausible that with the arrival of spring, Russia may also direct people towards the border areas.
Finland has claimed the Russian authorities have deliberately funnelled undocumented asylum seekers to Finnish border crossings.
Orpo defends tighter citizenship rules
The premier meanwhile maintained that the government wants to attract foreign professionals to Finland.
"Finland remains very open to work-based immigration," he said.
In February, the government's legislative proposal to tighten Finnish citizenship requirements drew criticism from several corners, including the business community and academia.
According to the government programme, the residency requirement is to be raised from five to eight years for those seeking Finnish citizenship.
Retirement age safe
The discussion also turned to the retirement age following recent reports that pensions will be on the firing line as the government looks for emergency spending cuts.
Orpo, however, told reporters that the government was not going to raise the retirement age.
"We will not touch the retirement age," Orpo said, in response to his Finance Minister Riikka Purra suggesting it would eventually become inevitable to delay the pension age.
A recent analysis by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (EVA) suggested that the pension age be delayed by two years.
Most of the three billion-euro savings the government is looking to make in its budgetary review this month will focus on public spending cuts.
That said, the government is not looking to raise income taxes, according to Orpo. Instead, he said the focus will be on consumption taxes and indirect taxes, including VAT.
This week about half a million social welfare recipients saw their Social Insurance Institution (Kela) benefits trimmed in line with the government's social welfare reforms.
Users with an Yle ID can leave comments on our news stories. You can create your Yle ID via this link. Our guidelines on commenting and moderation are explained here.