Finland has completed construction on a 200-kilometer (124-mile) fence along its eastern border with Russia, three years after the project began, the Finnish public broadcaster Yle reported Monday.
Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen presented the completed fence near a shuttered border crossing, saying the barrier addresses heightened security risks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and could be extended further.
“What we particularly need is EU funding for eastern member states so that projects like this can be financed,” Rantanen said.
The new fence cost 356 million euros ($413 million), with an estimated 2-3 million euros for annual maintenance, according to Finnish border authorities.
The barbed wire fence spans Finland’s southeastern border with Russia and parts of its eastern flank. It features patrol roads, loudspeakers, night lighting and surveillance cameras.
Russia and Finland share a 1,340-kilometer (833-mile) border, the longest of any EU or NATO member.
Similar fences have been erected in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland on their borders with Belarus to stem migrants from crossing.
Finland shut its eastern border crossings with Russia indefinitely in December 2023 following an influx of asylum seekers. Helsinki claimed the influx was a so-called “hybrid attack” in retaliation for Finland joining NATO in April 2023.
The Kremlin has rejected those accusations.
Over the summer, Russia closed five railway border checkpoints with Finland without disclosing the reasons or when they might reopen.
The Finnish government last week proposed an extension of its Border Security Act until Dec. 31, 2028 — a temporary one-year law that allows border guards to turn away asylum seekers under certain circumstances.
AFP contributed reporting.
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