EU border guards sent to Finland after Russia was accused of using migrants to destabilize the bloc

Finnish border guards escort migrants arriving at the Raja-Joseppi international border crossing on Saturday in Inari — the only crossing point open in Finland' eastern border Photo: LEHTIKUVA/VIA REUTERS/REUTERS

Dozens of extra EU guards will be sent to Finland's border with Russia this week after Moscow was accused of trying to destabilize the bloc by smuggling migrants across the border.

A team of 50 Frontex officers will be deployed to help patrol the 833-mile border, the agency said, calling it a «significant reinforcement.» The first group will arrive at the border on Wednesday.

More than 800 migrants from countries such as Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen have entered Finland via Russia in recent weeks, according to the Finnish Border Guard service.

Helsinki says Moscow is transporting migrants to the border in retaliation for its decision to expand defense cooperation with the United States. The Kremlin denies the accusation.

Frontex director Hans Leutens said the decision was aimed at sending more guards and other employees. officers to Finland, along with equipment such as patrol cars, was «a demonstration of the European Union's united position against hybrid problems affecting one of its members.»

Frontex currently has 10 officers working at the Finnish borders.< /p>It can also be closed

Finland has responded to the surge of migrants from its eastern neighbor by closing all but one of its eight border crossings with Russia.

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The Raja-Joseppi crossing in the far northern Arctic region remains open, although Helsinki has signaled that it too may be closed due to the crisis.

Meanwhile, Russian authorities have made it clear that more migrants will be transported to the border.

On Friday, the governor of the Murmansk region in northwestern Russia said officials planned to transport 55 migrants from the closed Salla border crossing to the Raja Joseppi crossing.

Another 200 foreign nationals who were unable to cross were sent back. decided to stay in Russia and will be provided with bus service to St. Petersburg, Governor Andrei Chibis said after the region announced “heightened alert.”

The Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, as well as Finland, accused Moscow of sending migrants to their borders with Russia in an operation that all three countries called a «hybrid attack.»

Dozens of deaths

Russia's ally Belarus used similar tactics on the border with Poland, where dozens of deaths have been reported in freezing winter conditions in recent months.

Minna Alander, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of National Affairs, said Russia was seeking to “create a dilemma that affects international security and also national and international law, as well as humanitarian issues.”

“This is a deliberate movement of these people to the Finnish border in order to put pressure on Finland to respond,” she said. said.

Helsinki angered the Kremlin earlier this year when it joined NATO, ending decades of non-alignment in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The move doubled the duration. borders of a member country of the transatlantic alliance with Russia.

Vladimir Putin repeatedly complained about NATO expansion before sending Russian troops to Ukraine.