Russian media say that Moscow is planning to deploy ballistic missiles near the border with Finland. As Voice of America’s London correspondent Henry Ridgwell reports, analysts say this is the latest of many military threats that Russia has already made against Finland after its NATO membership last year.
Russian media announced on Monday that Russia plans to deploy an Iskander ballistic missile system near the border with Finland. According to them, this is a response to Finland’s membership in NATO last year.
But the announcement isn’t raising alarm bells in Helsinki, says security analyst Charly Salonius-Pasternak.
“This is not really news. And of course, when it comes to Russia, announcing plans to do something and implementing them are two very different things,” he says.
Analysts say Finland is facing various security threats from Russia since Helsinki’s NATO membership, prompted by Moscow’s large-scale attack on Ukraine.
At the end of last year, thousands of migrants from various countries, including Syria and Somalia, started arriving at the Finland-Russia border to seek asylum.
Helsinki closed the border in November, accusing the Kremlin of using migration as a weapon. The border closure was extended indefinitely this month.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined the Finnish prime minister on a tour of the border region last week.
“This is a hybrid threat and must be treated as a hybrid threat to national security. We are looking at how one state is using poor people to exert pressure on another state,” she said.
Finland is building a fence along part of its 1,340-kilometer border with Russia and increasing patrols. The government is debating legislation to block the entry of asylum seekers from Russia.
Ursula Von der Leyen said that any law on this issue must strike a balance between protecting security and international obligations on refugee rights.
The threats go beyond the migrant crisis, says analyst Salonius-Pasternak.
“After the arrival of some of these individuals in Finland, the Russian security services are trying to recruit them to then cause chaos inside Finland. Of course, the Finnish authorities are preparing for cyber attacks from Russia, possibly other attacks on infrastructure, as well as a continuation of the exploitation of these people by Moscow. Of course, with the end of winter, crossing the border becomes much easier,” he says.
Russia denies trying to create a migrant crisis on the Finnish border. Moscow has considered Finland’s membership in NATO a “historic mistake” that would force it to take “countermeasures”.
