Rise in asylum seekers from Russia is Kremlin act of revenge, says Finnish president

The Finnish president has vowed to take “very clear action” over the growing number of asylum seekers arriving from Russia, which he said appeared to be a Kremlin act of revenge for Finland’s cooperation with the US.

Sauli Niinistö’s comments come after the Finnish border guard reported steadily increasing numbers of asylum seekers arriving at border crossing points in south-east Finland in recent days.

Russian border guards usually stop people without valid EU visas from crossing into Finland. But on Wednesday Niinistö said he believed Russia had started guiding asylum seekers towards Finnish crossing points in retaliation for Helsinki’s plans to sign a defence cooperation agreement with Washington.

The two countries share a 830-mile border, which also acts as the EU’s external border. Since Finland’s Nato accession earlier this year, tensions between the two countries have become increasingly strained. Finnish security services recently warned of increased online espionage attempts from Russia since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I don’t see the border traffic ending in any other way than with very clear Finnish action,” Niinistö said at a press conference in Bonn.

The border guard said that as of 6pm local time, 74 asylum seekers arrived at the border in south-east Finland on Wednesday. On Tuesday the number was 55 and on Monday it was 39.

Recalling previous comments, he said that Finland should be prepared for a “certain malice” from Russia after joining Nato.

“Yes, we are now constantly being reminded every day that Finland joined Nato. I think that this time, maybe it was the DCA [defence cooperation agreement] that triggered the situation,” he said.

He supports government plans to enable traffic at the border to be restricted, adding: “Yes, I now understand that it won’t end on its own.”

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, dismissed Niinistö’s statement as “absolutely groundless”. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, said Moscow deeply regretted Finland’s decision to distance itself from what it described as previously good bilateral relations.

Earlier this month, the border guard banned people from crossing the border by bike in reaction to “foreigners travelling from Russia to Finland by bicycle, without adequate travel documents for entering the Schengen area”.

It comes after Finland adopted legislation last year that would allow crossing points to stop receiving asylum applications in the event of mass immigration orchestrated by another country.

Jussi Laine, a border studies professor at the University of Eastern Finland, said Helsinki was overreacting to a Russian attempt to exert pressure, which was just what Moscow wanted.

Laine said: “This is hybrid-influencing machined by Russia and a key element in it is to create havoc and panic. If this is what they are aiming at, I would say they got it with very little effort.”

The Finnish Refugee Council said the right to seek refuge should be respected, regardless of where applicants came from or how they accessed the border.