Finland has started building a 124-mile separation fence on its eastern border with Russia – implementing a security plan developed after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
Finnish border guards said the fence will be 10 feet high, with barbed wire and surveillance equipment installed at the top. It will not span the entire border with Russia, but will be built in riskier areas such as border crossings and their adjacent areas.
Of all European Union countries, Finland shares the longest land border with Russia, stretching 832 miles. Currently, a simple wooden fence separating forested areas marks the border between Finland and Russia.
The Finnish government gave the green light to the border fence project in June in response to a surge in illegal immigration from Russia as Russians fled the country to avoid being drafted into combat in Ukraine. When completed, the new border fence will cover approximately 15% of the border with Russia and will primarily serve to slow illegal immigration flows and direct them to areas where border officials can control the flow of people.
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The construction of a pilot project for a border fence in Pelkola, Finland has started. (Finnish Border Guard)
The construction work started on February 28, 2023 with clearing the forest at the Pelkola border crossing in Imatra and will continue until spring. This part of the fence is a pilot project to test the feasibility of a larger project estimated at hundreds of millions of euros, according to border guards.
A road will be built along the fence for the movement and maintenance of border patrols. The fence will be equipped with night vision cameras, lights and speakers in certain areas.
The installation of roads and fences is scheduled to begin in March, followed by the construction of an engineering surveillance system. The pilot project should be completed by the end of June.
An additional 328-yard fence will be erected in the Immola garrison area during the pilot phase of the program. It is used as a training ground for the Border and Coast Guard Academy and also serves as a testing ground for new surveillance technologies.
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A Finnish border guard looks at a fence marking the border area between Finland and the Russian Federation near the Pelkola border crossing in Imatra, Finland, November 18, 2022. (ALESSANDRO RAMPAZZO/AFP via Getty Images)
As the pilot program progresses, the Finnish Border Guard plans to build about 44 miles of additional fences in other key target areas, with construction scheduled to take place between 2023 and 2025, four miles more in North Karelia and three miles each in Kainuu and Lapland.
Finland also took another step towards joining NATO when the country’s parliament overwhelmingly ratified a resolution on joining the military alliance. The final vote was 7 to 7, according to German news agency DW 184.
Both Finland and Sweden reversed their longstanding neutrality position and applied for NATO membership last year after Russia invaded Ukraine.
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The Finnish Border Guard said construction of the Pelkola barrier fence project is expected to be completed in June. (Finnish Border Guard)
Their admission into the alliance is subject to the approval of Hungary and Turkey, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan obstructing the process mainly over Sweden’s support of a Kurid organization which he believes is a terrorist group.
“We don’t have a major problem relative to Finland, but we always emphasize that Sweden should take concrete steps,” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in February.
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has openly spoken out in favor of separate approval for Finland and Sweden if the differences between Ankara and Stockholm cannot be resolved.
“The main question is not whether Finland and Sweden will ratify together,” Stoltenberg said on February 14. “The main question is that they both be ratified as full members as soon as possible.”