Finland has started to construct a wired fence at its Russian border, fearing retaliation from Russia after the Nordic country joined NATO less than two weeks ago.
The government decided last year to construct the barrier following its NATO application, primarily in case Russia moved to flood the border with migrants.
Finland aims to guard against a repeat of events on the European Union’s eastern frontier in Poland in winter 2021, when the bloc accused neighboring Belarus—a staunch Russian ally—of engineering a crisis by flying in migrants from the Middle East, giving them visas, and pushing them across the border.
The Finnish steel mesh fence is scheduled to cover 200 kilometers (125 miles) of its 1,300-kilometer eastern border, and the end of construction is set for 2026. It will cost an estimated 380 million euros ($417 million).
Project manager Ismo Kurki said on Friday that, while it is not intended to stop any invasion attempt, the fence will have surveillance equipment.
There has so far been little human activity along the border.
The fence will cover the most critical points of the border where illegal crossing is most expected.
“Most of [the border area] is very remote and very difficult to access. We construct the target areas which are accessible by vehicle and where large-scale illegal immigration is likely,” said Border Guard Brigadier General Jari Tolppanen, as one of his teams worked on the first 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) stage of the fence at Imatra, some 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of Helsinki.
Last year, Finland detected only 30 illegal crossings there, while Russian border guards stopped some 800 attempts to enter Finland, the Finnish Border Guard said.
“The situation at the Finnish-Russian border has been stable and is stable at the moment,” Tolppanen said.
“But in this totally changed [security] situation, Finland must have more credible and more independent border control. And Finland needs to be less dependent on the Russian border control,” he added.
Poland and the Baltic States have already begun erecting fences on their borders with Russia and Belarus following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Until now, the Finnish-Russian border has been a mere line in the vast forests covering the area, marked only by a low wire fence intended to stop cattle and other domestic animals but not people.
The new fence will be 3 meters (10 feet) high, topped with razor wire and tracked by a road.
“Border barrier fence was no kind of political topic before the war [in Ukraine]. And actually, it wasn’t a kind of plan of the Finnish border guard,” Tolppanen said. “All changed after the attack [of Russia against Ukraine].”
Imatra is located a mere 7 kilometers (4.4 miles) off the Russian industrial town of Svetogorsk in the Karelia region and is a few hours’ drive away from Russia’s second-largest city of St. Petersburg. The town has a long history of dealing with Russians—tourists, day-trippers, and permanent residents alike.
“Here in Imatra, we’re not so afraid about Russians because the border has always been there and it has never been open like between European countries,” said Antero Lattu, vice chairman of Imatra City Council. He stressed that locals aren’t afraid of Russians “but we’re happy because of that fence.”
Erkki Jouhki, who works as a town planner, agreed but also stressed Finland’s military capabilities. NATO membership gives Finland “a strong back but we have a very strong army. It’s very well [armed] ... it’s a very modern army here because of Russia.”
