Finland's parliament has approved a government bill aimed at making controversial changes to the nation's border laws.
The so-called deportation bill was passed by 167 votes to 31.
Due to the contentious nature of the legislative changes, the bill required a supermajority — the backing of five-sixths of the MPs present in parliament at the time of the vote — in order to pass.
The vote followed a lengthy series of speeches during the plenary session on Friday afternoon, with 34 MPs making requests to address the floor on the subject.
Once enacted, the legislation will allow Finnish border authorities to refuse to accept asylum applications under certain circumstances.
The government viewed the bill as necessary in order to tackle any potential use of 'hybrid influencing' by Russia, such as the funnelling of large groups of migrants to Finnish checkpoints on the eastern land border.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) welcomed the passing of the bill by parliament in the interests of Finland's national security.
"We saw from the end of last year that Russia was using migrants as a tool for hybrid influencing against our security, and against our borders. We determinedly set out to find solutions and today parliament has approved the law with a clear majority," Orpo said, adding that he hopes the law "never has to be used".
Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) said the vote demonstrated Finns' ability to work together on national security matters.
"It has been a great tradition in Finland that in matters of security we can unite across government-opposition lines and agree solutions that are good for the security of the motherland," she said.
Writing on X, outgoing Left Alliance party leader Li Andersson called the result of the vote a "sad day" for the Finnish state and for human rights.
"If the Social Democrats had allowed all their representatives to vote according to their conscience and their own values and views, the motion would not have passed," Andersson noted, referring to a split within the opposition Social Democratic Party over whether to back the bill or reject it.
Protests outside and inside parliament
Prior to the vote, a few dozen people gathered on the steps of the Parliament Building to protest against the proposed law change.
Protesters also briefly interrupted the plenary debate with shouts from the public gallery within the parliamentary chamber, before they were quickly removed by security staff.
The demonstrators shouted slogans including "Vote for values" and "No person is illegal".
The protests reflect the fact that the bill has been widely criticised — both within Finland and from abroad — with over 200 university researchers calling for it to be quashed and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O'Flaherty, saying the draft bill "raises a number of significant human rights concerns".
However, a survey conducted by the Uutissuomalainen news group last month found that nearly two-thirds of respondents were in favour of the legislative changes.
Despite the months-long preparation and discussion of the bill, and the lengthy plenary session in parliament on Friday, Professor of International Law Martti Koskenniemi told Yle that it is highly unlikely the law will ever be applied.
"Putin is not sitting in Moscow and reading this law when deciding on the actions he wants to take on Finland's eastern border," Koskenniemi said.
He added that the law is on course to come into conflict with EU regulations, and it would likely be irrelevant from the point of view of Finland's security.