Finland's Prime Minister: We Will Not Open Borders with Russia

Finnish Prime Minister Petri Orpo stated that "Finland will not open the borders with Russia due to the presence of migrants from third countries, who are lurking to open the borders and cross into Finland." In an interview with the public broadcasting service, Orpo said: "There are people behind the eastern border whose goal is to enter Finland illegally. It is clear that we cannot open the borders now." He added: "We need to develop ways to prevent illegal border crossings." The Finnish government announced on November 30 that it would terminate the border cooperation agreement with Russia. It stated: "It received a memo from the Russian Foreign Ministry on October 25 regarding Russia's suspension of this agreement." On January 11 of this year, Finnish authorities extended the closure of the border with Russia until February 11.