Finland has started building a fence on the border with Russia

Finnish border guards have started construction of a “barrier” on the border with Russia in the village of Pelkola near the Imatra checkpoint, reported on the department’s website.
The construction of the fence at Pelkola is the pilot part of a large-scale project to strengthen Finland’s eastern border security, according to the report. The fence will extend approximately 3 km on both sides of the Imatra border post.
Fieldwork began on February 28, 2023 with the uprooting of trees. It is planned that in March the road will be laid and the fence erected, then the construction of the technical installations and the creation of a control system will begin. The work should be completed by the end of June.
The pilot part of the project also involves the creation of a 300-meter border barrier in the area of ​​the Immola garrison. It will be part of the training base of the Finnish School of Border and Maritime Guards and will be used as a proving ground to test surveillance technologies.
In addition, the Finnish border guards are drawing up a plan for the continued construction of barriers between 2023 and 2025 – at and around border crossing points, as well as in “other areas classified as important”.
The budgetary financing allocated to the realization of the project makes it possible to design and build approximately 70 km of barrier fences. Of these, 55 km should be built in southeastern Finland, seven kilometers in North Karelia and another five kilometers each in Lapland and Kainuuz.
In any case, roads will be laid next to the fence for the movement of border patrols and for repair work. In total, the cleared strip for the object will reach a width of about 10 meters. The fence will provide walkways for patrolling and animal movement, and loudspeakers and lighting will be installed in the most important target areas.
In addition to funding the construction of the fences themselves, the budget allocated for the project will be used to compensate local landowners “for permanent damage and inconvenience”. These compensations, as announced by the Finnish authorities, will be subject to income tax.
Finnish authorities have announced their intention to build border barriers in the summer of 2022, justifying this need with the country’s presumed entry into NATO. The law, which had to be adopted to launch the corresponding project, also provides for a restriction on the possibility of submitting requests for political asylum (if previously they could be submitted anywhere, this is now only allowed in certain control points).