Asylum seeker influx leaves lasting mark on Finland’s eastern border

Finland has completed a 200-kilometre border barrier along its eastern frontier, a project that has created jobs, changed the landscape and led one pensioner into a legal dispute, Yle reports.

Jonna Hyttinen, who lives near the border in Värtsilä, in Tohmajärvi, looks towards the Finnish-Russian border every day. A new structure appeared in the familiar landscape before last winter’s snow.

“It is not exactly beautiful. But you get used to it,” Hyttinen said.

One section of the barrier runs through her home village. In summer, she said, it blends into the landscape surprisingly well, although the barbed wire at the top remains visible.

The barrier clearly marks where Finland ends and Russia begins.

A huge construction project

The barrier stretches across different parts of Finland’s more than 1,300-kilometre eastern border, from the terrain of Lapland to the coast of the Gulf of Finland and through numerous municipalities.

Thousands of Finns worked on its construction, often in difficult conditions. The barrier consists of a metal mesh fence, an adjacent road, a cleared strip of land and a technical surveillance system.

More than 3,500 security clearances were required to allow construction workers to enter the border zone.

Among the first workers on the project was Tero Markoff, a forestry machine operator for Koumet, a company based in Kouvola that was responsible for clearing trees along the barrier route.

Markoff recalled working in an unusual atmosphere of peace and silence. Once the engine of his forestry machine stopped, he said, there was no sound around him.

The barrier crosses highly varied terrain, including steep slopes, rocky outcrops and wetlands. Seasonal changes added to the challenges.

“Soft ground is always more difficult in summer,” Markoff said.

Construction also required bridge structures and pontoons. In Virolahti, the Vaalimaanjoki river passes through the barrier.

Markoff never saw any signs of people on the Russian side of the border. He did, however, encounter wildlife.

During one lunch break, he noticed an unusual smell of decay and realised that something was moving nearby. Shortly afterwards, a herd of about 30 wild boars passed within roughly 20 metres of him.

The barrier has also become a minor tourist attraction because it is visible from public roads in several places. The Finnish Border Guard has issued fines to people who have crossed into the border zone out of curiosity.

Pensioner challenges the route

The completed barrier stands on land belonging to about 1,000 owners. The state has paid them approximately three million euros in compensation.

The Finnish Border Guard has obtained the right to use the land needed for the barrier. The strip extends 25 metres into Finland from the national border line.

Landowners can still move around their property in the same way as before the barrier was built.

One landowner, Raimo Jokela from Virolahti, took the matter to court. The barrier now runs alongside land owned by his family since the 19th century in the village of Kurkela.

Jokela and a relative appealed the route of the barrier to the Eastern Finland Administrative Court in Kuopio. Their appeal argued that the route should be changed to make it fairer in the village.

The court rejected the appeal, leaving the route unchanged. Jokela said the decision did not surprise him.

“When you start fighting with people in power, you are the one who loses,” he said.

Jokela’s family owns several hectares of fields in the area. He said the barrier had reduced the income they receive from renting out the fields.

“Even though we are not talking about enormous sums of money, it is still a little frustrating when payday comes,” Jokela said.

The pensioner, who lost his legal battle, does not believe the barrier will ever be removed.

A response to asylum seeker arrivals

The barrier is intended to prevent unauthorised entry into Finland. Parliament approved its construction in 2022.

In 2023, thousands of asylum seekers unexpectedly arrived in Finland from Russia. Finland subsequently closed all its border crossing points to passenger traffic.

Planning for the barrier advanced rapidly. It went from an idea to a completed structure in about four years.

The project cost a total of 356 million euros. Maintaining the barrier is expected to cost 1.5 million euros a year.