Finnish president defends border arrangement with Russia

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto on Wednesday defended the recent agreement between Finland and Russia on restricting the use of two northern border crossings.

Critics have asked why citizens of other EU countries were excluded from using the crossings. Niinisto said EU member countries had been consulted in advance and their view had been that Finland should handle the matter directly with Russia.

Since his visit to Moscow on March 22, he has met the ambassadors of EU countries, and no one has taken up the issue of other EU nationals not being able to use the crossings, the president said.

Niinisto admitted that the agreement is not quite what Finland had wanted, but underlined that Finland was in need of an agreement. He reminded that there had been major fears in Finland early this winter about an influx via Russia to Finland.

He dismissed the view that Finland had acquiesced in the will of Russia. "Finland needed the agreement, Russia did not need it", he said.

Niinisto gave the statement at a Frontier Guard Base in Ivalo, just 50 km from one of the two border crossing affected, Raja-Jooseppi, over 1,200 kilometres from Helsinki.

Under the agreement that took effect this week, only citizens of Finland, Russia and Belorussia and their accompanying persons can use the crossings. There are several other more southerly crossings available to international transit. Endit