Finland's decision to close border crossings with Russia violates people's rights

Finland’s decision to close a number of crossings on the border with Russia violates the rights of tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border, the Russian foreign ministry said on November 20.

"On November 20, a meeting with Finnish Ambassador to Russia Antti Helantera at the Russian foreign ministry. The Russian side expressed protest over the closure of the most extensively used checkpoints on the Russian-Finnish state border by the Finnish authorities," TASS reports.

"Finland’s decision, which was made under the pretext of the current situation when lots of migrants are crossing the border to seek asylum in this country and Russia’s alleged deliberate actions to organize these migrant flows, is absolutely provocative and runs alongside attempts to further strain our relations," the ministry said.

"The closure of border crossings infringes on the rights and interests of tens of thousands of our countries’ citizens. It was a hasty decision that was made without any consultations with the Russian side, which used to be part and parcel of cooperation on issues of ensuring the effective functioning of the shared border."