Finnish border guards on Friday presented a detailed plan for the construction of a barrier to strengthen the security of their border with Russia, under tension since the invasion of Ukraine. Topped with barbed wire, this three-meter-high fence is to be built over an area covering 200 km along a road, for a total sum of 380 million euros.
Particularly sensitive areas will be equipped with night vision cameras, lighting and loudspeakers, explained at a press conference the head of the project within the border guards, Ismo Kurki. Construction, divided into three phases, will begin in March 2023 with the installation of a three-kilometre pilot barrier at the Imatra border crossing.
A project that could be completed in 2025 or 2026
Depending on the results of this phase, the second stage aims to build an additional 70 kilometers of barriers by the end of 2023 in the areas around the border crossings. The government has already added in its budget an additional envelope of 6 million euros for the pilot phase and 139 million for the second. The final phase is due to end in 2025 or 2026, according to Brigadier General Jari Tolppanen.
“This is one of the biggest projects ever undertaken by border guards,” he told reporters. Fearing that Moscow will use the migrants to exert political pressure, NATO candidate Finland amended its law on border guards in July to facilitate the construction of stronger barriers. Although the border between Finland and Russia has “worked well” in the past, the war in Ukraine has “fundamentally” changed the security situation.
“Indispensable” barriers
“In this situation, we have every reason to reconsider our system,” Jari Tolppanen told AFP. Finland’s borders are currently mainly secured by light wooden barriers, mainly designed to prevent livestock from moving. The new amendments allow border crossings to be closed and asylum seekers to be reunited at specific points in the event of a large-scale entry attempt into Finland.
For Jari Tolppanen, this means that “in an extreme situation”, the border guards “will be responsible for preventing entry into Finland”, a “new” task. According to him, border barriers are “indispensable” to stop large-scale illegal entries from Russian territory. Estonia, Latvia and Poland have also increased or plan to increase security at their borders with Russia.
In September, Russians flocked to Finland after President Vladimir Putin’s announcement about mobilizing reservists to fight in Ukraine. Helsinki then considerably restricted the entry of Russian citizens into its territory.