Deals with landowners: Finland “secretly” strengthens its border with Russia

Deals with landowners
Finland is “secretly” strengthening its border with Russia

By Kevin Schulte
November 1, 2023, 8:40 a.m

Barbed wire, 200 kilometers of fences, secret contracts with landowners: Finland is upgrading its border with Russia. The Finnish military had already initiated initial measures before Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine.

For half a century, Finnish border guards controlled the 1,300-kilometer-long border with Russia day and night. Guards from the northern European country patrolled along the Iron Curtain at intervals of 10 to 50 kilometers. Then the Soviet Union collapsed and Finland slipped into a severe economic crisis. The government in Helsinki imposed austerity measures and also cut border guards. All guard posts along the Finnish-Russian border fell victim to the recession, the facilities were sold and many posts were subsequently converted into summer homes. Since then, simple fences with wooden posts have dominated the scene along the border.

But those times are over. The Finnish Defense Forces (FDF) have begun “secretly strengthening their eastern border,” reports Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest newspaper. The military began making voluntary agreements with landowners in the east of the country six years ago to enable the construction of fortifications.

Bad memories of the Winter War

The Finns have experience with Russian imperialism. Some older Finns may have even fought against the Red Army in the Winter War of 1939/1940. A good 85 years ago, the then Soviet Union wanted to annex Finnish territory.

The Finns, who were clearly inferior in terms of numbers and materials, put up a brave fight and were initially able to stop the Red Army’s attack. It was only after more than two months that the Soviet troops achieved a breakthrough. On March 13, 1940, the war was ended with the Moscow Peace Treaty. Finland remained independent, but had to cede parts of its land.

In 2014, memories of this attack resurfaced. With Crimea, Russia once again incorporated foreign territory. In 2015, concerns grew when refugees from the Middle East suddenly entered Finland via the largely unsecured border from Russia. It was suspected at the time that Moscow was deliberately transporting the refugees to the Finnish border in order to destabilize its neighbor. Just like Belarus is trying to do with the Baltic states.

1340 kilometers border

The Russian-Finnish border is 1,340 kilometers long. On both sides there are exclusion zones, some kilometers wide, which can only be entered with a permit. However, this can hardly be controlled on a route that stretches from Hamburg to Rome.

That is why Finland has been approaching residents along the border since 2017 to buy rights from them to build additional border protection measures. The contracts provide for the possibility of building additional border security measures on the properties with just one day’s notice – these could include guard posts, loudspeaker systems and other fences. The contract term is 20 years and the landowners receive a bonus of 750 euros for signing. If one day the armed forces actually decide to build on the land, the state will pay a further 4,800 euros per hectare to the affected citizens.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine a year and a half ago, landowners have become more open to “secret deals,” reports Helsingin Sanomat. “The attitude has become more positive. People have understood what these agreements are for,” military spokesman Sauli Hangistö is quoted as saying.

Finland prepared for war

The entire country is now prepared for the risk of a Russian attack, military expert Thomas Wiegold also explained against the background of Finland’s accession to NATO. “Finland already has capacities that are geared towards defense against an overwhelming enemy. In the event of war, they can practically increase their small army tenfold within a few days because they have been very consistently training reservists and maintaining the necessary equipment for decades.”

Finland was neutral for decades and the border with Russia was anything but highly secured. The simple wooden fences are a symbol that more was not necessary in a time of East-West relaxation. The Russian attack on Ukraine has changed the attitude of the Finns. With his campaign, Vladimir Putin managed to antagonize a formerly neutral state and drive it into NATO.