Finland may open its border with Russia after relevant law is passed — PM

Finland may open a checkpoint on its border with Russia after a new expulsion law is passed, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said.

"When the law is passed, we will try to cautiously open the border. <…> We will try to open traffic via the border. We may try to begin with one checkpoint. And if cooperation is established on both sides of the border, it will make it possible to open other checkpoints," he said in an interview with the Yle Radio Suomi radio station, per TASS.

The prime minister cited intelligence data indicating that the situation on the border is unchanged. Although the number of illegal border crossing incidents has not increased in the spring, thousands of people are waiting for a possibility to cross into Finland from Russia. "There are all the grounds to think that if we open a border crossing, people will arrive there," he noted.

A bill envisaging the expulsion of asylum seekers to Russia will be considered by Finland’s parliament next week. On April 4, the Finnish government decided to keep all the checkpoints on the border with Russia closed indefinitely due to the uncontrolled flow of refugees from third countries.