Finland's PM may allow partial opening of border with Russia after relevant law adopted

The Finland-Russia border can be partially opened when the "deportation law" is adopted.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo reported in an interview with Yle Radio Suomi that, following the intelligence data, Russia has not changed its policy and the situation at the border remains unchanged. 

Despite the fact that there has been no noticeable increase in illegal crossings at the border with the arrival of spring, thousands of people in Russia are still waiting for the opportunity to cross the Finnish border.

"We have all the reasons to believe that when we open the border crossing point, people will almost certainly come there," Opro said.

A bill to return asylum seekers to Russia will be submitted to parliament next week. 

"We will try to cautiously open the border when the law is passed. When it is adopted, then, by weighing and discussing, we could try to open movement across the border," Orpo noted. 

He said Finland is willing to normalise the situation, but everything depends on Russia. 

"We could try to start with one border crossing point. If cooperation is established on both sides of the border, it would allow opening others," he explained.

In April, the Finnish government left the border with Russia closed indefinitely to counteract the hybrid migration crisis.

The Finnish Border Guard has launched an investigation into about two dozen cases related to the organisation of illegal entry into Finland through the border with Russia.

Since last autumn, Russia has been gathering asylum seekers on Finland's eastern border, which means that it is turning people seeking asylum or a better life into a "tool" to achieve its own goals.