Finnish border guard at the Finnish-Russian border in Salla, Northern Finland on January 23, 2016. Photo Lehtikuva.
The Lapland border guard said on Thursday that Finland would not close its northern border shared with Russia.
Russian media earlier speculated that Finland could have closed the two border crossing points to refugees, as the influx of asylum seekers crossing the eastern border of the Finnish Lapland has been at a standstill for three consecutive days.
Ilkka Laitinen, deputy chief of the Finnish border guard, explained in a press release on Thursday that the halt of the refugee flow from Russia to Finland was an indication that crime prevention measures taken by Finland and Russia have started to work.
According to the latest data from the Finnish border guard, a total of 1,757 asylum seeker have crossed the Finnish-Russian border to enter Finland without a valid Schengen visa since last September.
