Finland extends border closure with Russia until February 11
Al Jazeera
Finland accuses Russia of encouraging asylum seekers to cross their shared frontier.
Finland will extend the closure of its border with Russia by four weeks, until February 11.
The interior ministry announced the extension on Thursday. The border was set to reopen on January 15.
Finland’s 1,340km (832-mile) border with Russia serves as the European Union’s external border and is part of NATO’s northeastern flank.
It shuttered all eight frontier posts with Russia late last year after accusing Moscow of encouraging asylum seekers and undocumented migrants to cross over. Russia has denied the claims.
“Based on the information gathered by the authorities, the threat of the phenomenon restarting and expanding as previously experienced is likely,” the interior ministry said in a statement.
