Finland Times

While the number of asylum seekers arriving in Finland via Sweden and the Baltic Sea has dwindled, there is growing concern in Finland about possible border crossings from Russia.

 Discussions have been focusing on the reasons for the recent change as foreigners without Schengen entry rights have been able to reach the border between Finland and Russia.

 In the past, Russian authorities have blocked their entry into the border zone on the Russian side, but in recent months people without entry documents have kept arriving.

 In an editorial on Thursday, Finnish language newspaper the Kaleva based in Oulu, wrote that Russia has the full right to allow persons without Schengen entry rights to reach the border, but the long time practice has been that Russia stops them.

 Kaleva noted that the practice has been followed probably in southern border control points as they have not seen unauthorized persons, but the problem has been emerging near the very northerly crossings.

Minister of the Interior Petteri Orpo told national broadcaster Yle late Wednesday that the current situation "does not match the interests of either country." Orpo said that talks continue at both political and border control level about the situation.  

The reference to talks was interpreted as denoting the upcoming visit to Finland by Russian Minister of the Interior Vladimir Kolokolchev in the near future. Prime Minister Juha Sipilä is also travelling to St Petersburg next week and will meet Rusian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedevin. It has not been reported whether border control issues will be discussed.

Ltn Col Jaakko Ritola, Head of the Border Checks Unit at the Finnish Frontier Guards, said on Thursday on Yle that the pressure on northern crossings can be explained in the light of the decision by Norway to accept no more refugees.

Both Finland and Norway belong to the Schengen area, but Norway is not a member of the EU. Ritola gave that as a reason whey Norway has been able to enact faster measures for repatriation of asylum seekers. Finnish legislation incorporates EU ordinances on matters such as time given to file a legal complaint.

When the use of two northerly crossings began, one fourth of the arrivals were persons who had lived in Russia for a longer time while the rest were in transit. But lately the share those using Russia as transit has increased.

"This may start perpetuating itself," Ritola said. "And this will be in no one's  interest," he added.

There is concern in Finland that the hundreds of thousands of temporary foreign workers in Russia may want to "go west" once their permits expire. Such a move could create major pressure on Finnish border service points and the ability of Finland to handle the situation, local media have said.