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Finland can open 4 checkpoints on border with Russia by December 23 — newspaper

According to the report, initially these four border crossings were supposed to remain closed until February 18, 2024

STOCKHOLM, November 23. /TASS/. The border guard in the South-East Finland said closed border crossings on the border with Russia can open by December 23, the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper reported.

According to the publication, the border service of South-East Finland stated that the Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, and Imatra checkpoints will be closed until December 23. This will also affect the Niirala checkpoint, the newspaper reports.

As the newspaper notes, initially these four border crossings were supposed to remain closed until February 18, 2024, but the government's decision on Wednesday to close almost all checkpoints except one reversed the previous decision.

On the night of November 18, Finland closed four border crossing points on its eastern border (Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala) until February 18, 2024 due to the influx of "third country nationals." On November 22, the Finnish government decided to close three of the remaining four checkpoints on the border with the Russian Federation until December 23, 2023, with the exception of the Raya-Jooseppi (Lotta on the Russian side). However, the republican authorities did not rule out the complete closure of checkpoints on the border with the Russian Federation, if they consider that the flow of illegal migrants has not stopped.