Finland’s parliament passed a law on Friday giving border guards the power to turn back third-country migrants at its border with Russia.
Finland has accused Russia of arming migrants by pushing many of them from countries such as Syria and Somalia to cross the border. The Kremlin has rejected the accusations.
Helsinki believes that Moscow is doing this in retaliation for Finland’s NATO membership, which supports Ukraine against Russian aggression.
The prime minister’s right-wing government, Petteri Orpo, said the bill was crucial to preventing future migrants from arriving, despite it being at odds with Finland’s international human rights commitments.
“This is a strong message for Russia, a strong message for our allies, that Finland cares about its own security, that we care about the security of the EU border,” Orpo said at a conference after the vote.
No asylum seekers have arrived in Finland since March.
Finland closed its land borders with Russia late last year.
Finland’s action is similar to steps taken in recent years by other European countries, including Poland and Lithuania, to make it more difficult for migrants to cross the border from Russia or its ally, Belarus.
