Finland’s interior minister announced Thursday that it will block its eastern border with Russia, just hours after reopening it following a surge in migrant crossings that Helsinki has labeled a Russian hybrid attack.
“The phenomenon has resurfaced, and we will close the entire border,” Interior Minister Mari Rantanen told Finland’s parliament.
A press conference on the matter was scheduled for 6:15 pm (1615 GMT).
Finland chose to partially remove the border closure that had been in effect since the end of November on Tuesday, in order to analyze whether there was still pressure on its borders.
Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, two border crossing sites were opened.
According to the Finnish border guard, at least 40 people have come into Finland to request refuge since the border was opened.
Following a migrant rush in mid-November, Finland shuttered four of its eight border crossings with Russia, eventually limiting access to only the northernmost crossing. By the end of November, that, too, had been closed.
The Nordic country, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia, had seen nearly 1,000 migrants arrive without a visa through its eastern border crossings since August.
“This is an organised activity, not a genuine emergency,” Finland’s Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said of the surge in late November.
Russia has denied intentionally sending migrants to Finland.
Finland’s relations with its eastern neighbour soured after the invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow warned of “countermeasures” after Finland joined NATO in April, reversing its decades-long policy of military non-alignment.