HELSINKI, January 10. /TASS/. Members of the Southeast Finland Border Guard have detained four people for illegally crossing Finland’s frontier with Russia, the border detachment said on X (formerly Twitter).
The incident, which took place in the Finnish municipality of Parikkala, is being investigated as a suspected violation of border regulations. However, the border guards did not specify if the incident had occurred on the Finnish or Russian side of the border.
Earlier, the Finnish government decided to shut down all vehicle checkpoints on the border with Russia between November 30 and December 14, 2023. Two crossing points were then reopened but the border was closed once again for a period to last from December 15, 2023, to January 14, 2024, due to a renewed influx of migrants from third countries. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that Finland’s move to close the border crossings was creating new dividing lines in Europe and that Moscow would duly respond to these actions after interagency consultations.