As expected, the Finnish government on Thursday decided to extend the closure of the border with Russia.

In the past, the closure has been reconsidered every couple of months, but this time the decision is open-ended.

“We have not seen anything this spring that would lead us to conclude that the situation has changed meaningfully. In addition, spring will provide opportunities to put more pressure on Finland. There are hundreds and possibly thousands of people close to Finland’s border on the Russian side that could be instrumentalised against Finland,” said Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) in a statement.