Finland has completed the construction of a 200-kilometer barrier along its border with Russia, according to YLE News. The structure includes a metal fence, an access road, and a cleared forest strip. The fence itself is equipped with surveillance cameras, floodlights, and loudspeakers.
The project cost 356 million euros, with annual maintenance expected to reach 1.5 million euros. The barrier spans 17 municipalities, stretching from Lapland to the coast of the Gulf of Finland.
Compensation and legal challenges
The fence crosses land owned by approximately one thousand individuals, to whom the state has paid about three million euros in compensation. One landowner, Raimo Jokela from the Virolahti municipality in southern Finland, took the matter to court, arguing that the construction reduced his rental income from fields. Jokela and his relatives demanded a change to the fence’s route, but the court dismissed their complaint.
Reasons and context for construction
According to YLE News, the barrier is intended to prevent illegal entry and what is described as instrumentalized migration. Plans for the fence were first discussed in the autumn of 2022, after Vladimir Putin announced a mobilization that saw nearly 17,000 Russians enter Finland over a single weekend. Construction began in the spring of 2023.
In the autumn of 2023, the Finnish government closed the border with Russia following a sharp increase in the number of foreign nationals attempting to enter the country from Russian territory. According to Reuters, 1,300 asylum seekers—primarily from Syria, Somalia, and Yemen—crossed the border between August and December. Helsinki maintains that Moscow deliberately manufactured a migration crisis by organizing the movement of people to the border. The Russian government denies these allegations.
The total length of the Finnish-Russian border is approximately 1,300 kilometers.
Source: Meduza
