“Moscow is recruiting asylum seekers”
Finland concerned about Russians in hiding
January 25, 2024, 1:18 a.m
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Because Russia is smuggling migrants into Finland, all border crossings are closed. Finland’s Foreign Minister is still not giving the all-clear. Moscow is trying to recruit asylum seekers in hiding as spies. The EU border guard Frontex is of no help.
Finland’s Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen has warned of the risk of sabotage and espionage after more than 150 Russian asylum seekers went into hiding in Finland. “There is a serious risk that Moscow will use the Russians in hiding for espionage or sabotage,” said Vatlonen in an interview with the editorial network Germany. But you cannot detain people and prevent them from continuing their journey.
Many of the people have criminal pasts. “The Russians even send us people who were involved in war crimes.” Some are said to have been given the choice of going to Finland or fighting in Ukraine. “So if Russia lets these people fight in Ukraine, then they can also fight elsewhere,” Valtonen told RND. “We must expect that Russia will continue to try to destabilize Finland and Europe.”
Valtonen sees Frontex’s ability to protect Finland’s EU external borders as inadequate. “Frontex is there to let everyone in and is therefore of no real help to us in defending against Russia’s hybrid warfare,” criticized the Foreign Minister. “That’s why Frontex must be given the opportunity to prevent people from entering the country illegally,” continued Valtonen. “If a state like Russia exploits people to wage a hybrid war, our current laws are not sufficient to counteract this in accordance with the Convention on Human Rights.” Frontex sent 55 border guards to Finland in December.
“Countermeasures” after joining NATO
Finland closed all border crossings in November and December due to a rapid increase in illegal migration from Russia. In January, Helsinki initially extended the measure until February 11th. According to authorities, 1,000 asylum seekers have come to the Finnish border from Russia since August, many from Somalia, Iraq and Yemen. The Finnish security service warned in mid-January that Moscow was trying to recruit some of them as informants. Moscow denies this.
In April, Finland joined NATO after decades of alliance neutrality. Moscow condemned joining the Western military alliance as an “attack on Russia’s security” and announced “countermeasures.”