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20.2.2024 | Finland’s Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen and Sweden’s Minister for Migration Maria Malmer Stenergard met in Finland on 20 February. The Ministers visited Finland’s eastern border and received an update on instrumentalised migration at the eastern border. 

14.12.2023 | The Government has decided to close border crossing points at the land border between Finland and Russia up to 14th of January 2024. The decision will take effect on the 15th of December 2023 at 20.00. Applications for international protection will not be accepted at the crossing points on the Finnish-Russian border. A decision to this effect was made by the extraordinary session of the Government on the 14th of December.

8.4.2024 | The interior ministers of Finland and Estonia visited the Pelkola border guard station and the Imatra border crossing point on 8 April. The exceptional circumstances at Finland's eastern border continue. The ministers were briefed on the current situation at the border and the project to build a fence on the border.

22.6.2022 | In future, the border procedure could be introduced by decision of the Government if an exceptionally large number of people were to arrive in Finland over a short period of time or if hybrid influence activities that exploit migration were directed against Finland. The Government submitted the relevant proposal for amending the Aliens Act to Parliament on 22 June. The purpose of the proposal is to make it easier to manage migrants who have made their way towards Finland.

14.2.2023 | The Ministry of the Interior has published an updated national risk assessment. The previous risk assessment was published in 2018, after which several changes have taken place in Finland’s operating environment. The national risk assessment anticipates sudden incidents targeted at Finland that have an impact on the vital functions of society and require the authorities to adopt exceptional measures or even request help from other countries. 

15.3.2022 | The Ministry of the Interior has set up a project to examine and prepare legislative amendments to enable the introduction of the border procedure in Finland. The border procedure would allow the processing of potentially unfounded asylum applications immediately at the border or in its vicinity. This would prevent asylum applicants from travelling within Finland or from Finland to other EU countries.

10.5.2022 | The Ministry of the Interior has sent out for comments draft amendments to the Aliens Act that would enable the introduction of the border procedure. The border procedure would allow the processing of potentially unfounded asylum applications immediately at or in the vicinity of the border. This would prevent asylum applicants from travelling within Finland or from Finland to other EU countries. The deadline for submitting comments is 23 May.

8.3.2023 | The Ministry of the Interior launched three projects with a view to amending border guard legislation. The amendments would reinforce Border Guard human resources and make better use of technology in maintaining border security. The Border Guard would also be able to combat crime more effectively.

19.5.2022 | Border security will be strengthened by improving the ability of the Finnish Border Guard to prepare for and respond to incidents under normal conditions. The Ministry of the Interior has sent a draft government proposal on amending the Border Guard Act out for comments. The aim is to make the necessary amendments to the Border Guard Act to help prepare for hybrid influence activities that exploit migration, for example.

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. 

28.11.2024 | Government ministers and their deputies responsible for civil preparedness and provision in the Nordic countries met in Oslo on 28 November. The meeting took place in new circumstances, with all of the Nordic countries now members of NATO. Finland was represented at the meeting by Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.

24.2.2022 | A working group chaired by the Ministry of the Interior has assessed legislation falling within the purview of the Ministry and the need for amendments to prepare for hybrid influencing that exploits migration. The study suggests that practical amendments for responding to hybrid influencing and managing situations could be made to the Aliens Act, the Act on the Reception of Persons Applying for Internatio...

28.10.2025 | The interior ministers of Finland, Norway, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Germany, Sweden and Denmark will meet in Gdánsk, Poland, on 28 October. The ministers will discuss countering hybrid threats posed by Russia and Belarus, and evacuation practices in the countries in the Baltic Sea region. Finland will be represented at the meeting by Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen.

Hybrid threats and hybrid influence activities Hybrid threats refer to malign external influence by which a state actor seeks to systematically influence the targeted country by combining different means. The aim of hybrid influence activities is ...