Finland has started construction of a metal fence in the most vulnerable sections of its border with Russia. The authorities have already started felling trees and clearing brush in a three kilometer strip in which a test section will be erected that will have a cost of six million euros.
The measure for the construction of this fence, which will have three meters high with concertinas on top and video surveillance cameras, it was approved last October to curb illegal immigration and a possible massive arrival of refugees. However, the main reason is the containment of any Russian threat in full invasion of Ukraine and its imminent entry into NATO.
The works have already begun in the border municipality of imatra, in southeastern Finland coinciding with the approval this Wednesday of Finland’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance by the Eduskunta (Finnish Parliament). You have to remember that Finland has the longest border with Russia in the entire European Union and the second in Europe, after Ukraine.
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200 kilometers and four years
If the pilot project is satisfactory, the works will continue with the construction of several more sections with a total length of about 200 kilometres, which is around 15% of the 1,340 kilometer border that separates Finland and Russia.
The works are expected to last between three and four years and involve a disbursement of “several hundred million euros”, according to estimates by the border guard, which acknowledges that “the fence by itself will not solve anything, but it will form part of the Border Guard’s global border surveillance”.
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The construction of the border fence, initially proposed by the Border Guard, was authorized by the center-left government led by the Prime Minister, Sanna Martin, and supported by all parliamentary groups.
This project is a response to the increase in tensions with Moscow as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the accession process of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
