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16.5.2024 | The agreement on police cooperation in the border area between Finland and Sweden will further improve the maintenance of security in the northern border area. The President of the Republic is to approve the agreement and the relevant bills on Friday.

22.1.2021 | On 22 January, the Government decided at an extraordinary meeting to tighten border traffic and the recommendations on testing and quarantine.

7.4.2020 | On 7 April, the Government adopted decisions concerning Finland’s internal and external borders. Based on the decisions, restrictions on border traffic and the quarantine rules will be tightened and continued until 13 May. The aim is to slow the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.

19.10.2021 | Finland and Sweden have signed an agreement on police cooperation in the border area in Tornionlaakso. Its purpose is to step up police cooperation between the two countries. Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo and Swedish Minister for Home Affairs Mikael Damberg signed the agreement in Tornio on Tuesday 19 October.

19.8.2020 | In its negotiations yesterday on 18 August, the Government decided on border traffic restrictions. Restrictions on internal and external border traffic will be reinstated based on an epidemiological assessment.

19.9.2019 | At its plenary session on 19 September 2019, the Government decided to propose that the President of the Republic appoint Major General Pasi Kostamovaara as Chief of the Border Guard as of 1 October 2019. The appointment is a fixed-term one until the end of 2024. At the same time, the Government proposed that Rear Admiral Markku Hassinen be appointed Deputy Chief of the Border Guard from 1 October 2019 to 31 December 2024.

20.2.2025 | The Czech Republic's Minister of the Interior Vít Rakušan will visit Finland between 19 and 21 February. Minister Rakušan will meet Finland's Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen and travel with her to Vaalimaa border crossing point, where the ministers will be hosted by the Southeast Finland Border Guard District. The topics on their agenda will include discussions on Finland's action to combat the instrumentalisation of migrants. 

16.1.2025 | The Government has issued a decree bringing into force the agreement on police cooperation in the border area between Finland and Sweden. The agreement will enter into force on 1 February 2025.

24.6.2024 | Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen and Norwegian Minister of Justice and Public Security Emilie Enger Mehl met in Finland on Monday 24 June. Together, the ministers paid a visit to the Southeast Finland Border Guard District at Finland’s eastern border and received a briefing on the progress of the border fence and other projects. 

24.3.2022 | The Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments a draft proposal on amendments to the emergency response centre legislation. The legislative amendments concern the Act on Emergency Response Centre Operations and related acts. Comments on the draft will be accepted until 13 May 2022.

20.12.2021 | The Ministry of the Interior has today set up a legislative project to prepare a government proposal for adopting and bringing into force the agreement on police cooperation in the border area between Finland and Sweden.

22.4.2021 | On 22 April, the Government decided to extend the restrictions on entry into the country until 25 May 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and we do not yet have adequate measures available to replace the restrictions. For this reason, and to curb the spread of COVID-19 variants, both internal border controls and restrictions on external border traffic will continue. No substantive changes were made to the decisions taken on 31 March. The decisions will enter into force on 26 April.

31.3.2021 | On 31 March, the Government decided to extend the restrictions on entry into the country until 30 April 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and we do not yet have adequate measures available to replace the restrictions. For this reason, and to curb the spread of COVID-19 variants, both internal border controls and restrictions on external border traffic will continue. No substantive changes were made to the decisions taken on 11 March. The changes will enter into force on 1 April.

27.9.2021 | The 2022 budget proposal envisages a total of some EUR 1,566 million for the main title of the Ministry of the Interior. This total includes EUR 856 million for policing, some EUR 280 million for the Finnish Border Guard, EUR 87 million for rescue services and the Emergency Response Centre Administration, and EUR 160 million for immigration.

11.3.2021 | On 11 March, the Government decided to extend the restrictions on entry into the country until 17 April 2021. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, and there are no adequate measures available yet to replace the restrictions. For this reason, and to curb the spread of COVID-19 variants, both internal border controls and restrictions on external border traffic will continue. Only minor changes were made to the decisions taken on 18 February.

6.8.2020 | In its meeting on 6 August, the Finnish Government decided to reinstate internal border control for traffic between Finland and the Netherlands and between Finland and Belgium. Restrictions on external border traffic will be reinstated for traffic from Andorra to Finland. The number of coronavirus cases in the Netherlands, Belgium and Andorra has taken an upward turn since the previous assessment. The reinstated restrictions will enter into force on Monday 10 August.

20.12.2018 | The start of 2019 will see the entry into force of amendments to acts and decrees related to the police, immigration, rescue services and civilian crisis management. This press release provides a summary of the most important changes.

31.8.2017 | On 31 August 2017, the Government appointed General Staff Officer Jukka Savolainen as Director of the Community of Interest focusing on vulnerabilities and resilience at the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats. The appointment is for the period between 1 October 2017 and 31 August 2022.

5.9.2017 | Finland, Norway, Sweden and Russia are participating in a Barents Rescue Exercise in Petrozavodsk, Russia, between 4 and 8 September 2017. Barents Rescue Exercises are held every two years, and the previous one was organised in Finland in 2015. This year’s exercise is already the eighth of its kind.