In the midst of the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s president promises ‘trouble’ with Finland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened Finland with “problems” after the Nordic country was “dragged into NATO” over the Ukraine conflict.
“Look, Finland was taken and dragged into NATO,” Putin claimed in a recent video interview. “What did we have, a dispute with Finland?” All issues, even those of a territorial nature in the middle of the twentieth century, were long resolved. We had the most heartfelt relationships. Everything was progressing economically. Yes, there were some issues in the timber business related to the need to improve timber processing within the country. But that was the end of it. In truth, it’s a little detail.”
In the midst of the Ukraine conflict, Russia’s president promises ‘trouble’ with Finland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened Finland with “problems” after the Nordic country was “dragged into NATO” over the Ukraine conflict.
“Look, Finland was taken and dragged into NATO,” Putin claimed in a recent video interview. “What did we have, a dispute with Finland?” All issues, even those of a territorial nature in the middle of the twentieth century, were long resolved. We had the most heartfelt relationships. Everything was progressing economically. Yes, there were some issues in the timber business related to the need to improve timber processing within the country. But that was the end of it. In truth, it’s a little detail.”
The Vaalimaa and Niirala border crossings reopened briefly Thursday after being closed at the end of last month, along with Finland’s other six border posts with Russia.
Finland accuses Moscow of attempting to destabilize the country by bringing migrants to the border. Finland joined NATO in April. Russia disputes the charge.
The Finnish government chose to seal the whole 830-mile border for at least two weeks at the end of November, citing concerns that Moscow was exploiting migrants to destabilize Finland in an accused act of “hybrid warfare.”
According to Finnish officials, approximately 1,000 migrants without adequate visas or legitimate papers came at the border from August until the end of November, with more than 900 of them arriving in November alone. The figures are significantly higher than typical.
Finland accuses Russia of purposefully directing refugees, the majority of whom are seeking asylum in Finland, to border areas ordinarily closely monitored by the Russian Federal Security Service, or FSB. The Kremlin has denied that Russia is pushing migrants to enter Finland and has expressed remorse at the closure of the Finnish border.
Earlier this month, Finnish authorities stated that the vast majority of migrants arriving in November came from three countries: Syria, Somalia, and Yemen.
Finland, with a population of 5.6 million people, forms a substantial component of NATO’s northeastern flank and serves as the European Union’s northern external boundary.
