Minister of the Interior Rantanen: We have a duty to protect our citizens

On 10 December, Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen represented Finland at the informal ministerial conference of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg. The conference discussed topical migration issues and the role that the European Convention on Human Rights plays in addressing them responsibly.

In connection with the conference, Finland and 26 other European states issued a joint statement.

“We need to talk openly about the balance between the individual rights of immigrants and what is in the best interests of our societies. For example, we must be able to deport a foreign national who has committed serious crimes back to their country of origin,” says Minister of the Interior Rantanen.

Migration involves constantly evolving challenges that could not be foreseen when the European Convention on Human Rights was drawn up.

“If we do not acknowledge and respond to these challenges, we will endanger the fundamental rights and freedoms protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. This undermines trust in the entire Convention scheme,” says Rantanen.

“One of these challenges is the efforts of hostile states to use weaponisation of migration as an instrument of pressure. Finland has also been faced with a situation where Russia uses weaponised migration to exert pressure on Finland. The situation at Finland’s eastern border remains tense, and the risk of instrumentalised migration persists if the border crossing points were reopened,” she says.

Inquiries:
Heikki Tamminen, State Secretary, tel. +358 295 488 433, [email protected]