As explained at the outset The Guardianamong all EU Member States, Finland is the one “which shares the longest border with Russia”. Indeed, the line that separates the two countries stretches over no less than 1,340 kilometers, which naturally makes it very difficult to control.
A weakness which, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has become intolerable in the eyes of Helsinki, which announced a few months ago its desire to remedy this situation.
Thus, Tuesday, October 18, after “a meeting of representatives of the main Finnish parties”, reports the British daily, Sanna Marin announced that the executive was going to take action.
“We must be prepared for any situation”
“We already agreed on the project, now the government will bring concrete proposals to Parliament”, said the Social Democratic Prime Minister, who then elaborated on her goals:
“We want to ensure that our border guards have sufficient support to carry out proper and effective border control. We must be prepared for any disruptive situation.”
The fear, again underlines the London media, is in particular that “Moscow could orchestrate mass migration as a form of hybrid warfare, similar to what Belarus was accused of doing last year” at the Polish border.
Concretely, the government should follow the suggestions made by its border guards, who proposed “to build a fence several meters high, equipped with barbed wire, surveillance cameras and sensors” along a 257 kilometer portion of the border, relates The Guardian.
A costly project, in time and money, since it would take four years to complete and would cost several hundred million euros, according to estimates.
However, concludes the progressive newspaper, “a first 3 kilometer long pilot part could be completed by next summer”. Provided that the funds to start its construction are approved next month.