HELSINKI (Reuters) – The Finnish government will extend the closure of crossing stations on its border with Russia until further notice, it said on Thursday, and also added several ports to its list where travel would be prohibited.
Finland closed its land borders with Russia late last year amidst a growing number of arrivals from countries including Syria and Somalia. It has accused Moscow of weaponizing migration against the Nordic nation, a claim the Kremlin denies.
“Finnish authorities see this as a long-term situation. We have not seen anything this spring that would lead us to conclude that the situation has changed meaningfully,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said in a statement.
The government had said in February that the border closure was set to last until April 14.
(Reporting by Essi Lehto in Helsinki, writing by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Terje Solsvik)
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