Finland continues building fence on Russian border

(14 Apr 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Imatra - 14 April 2023
1. Various of excavators digging, readying area for fence at border with Russia
2. Old chicken wire fence at border
3. High visibility barriers
4. Tilt up of fence's construction area
5. Surveillance camera at border
6. Wide of construction area
7. Old chicken wire fence
8. Forest seen through fence
STORYLINE:
Finland continued building a barbed-wire fence along the country's long border with Russia on Friday.

It is being built amid concerns in the Nordic country over the changing security environment in Europe.

The initial three-kilometer (1.8 mile) stretch of the fence will be erected at a crossing point in the eastern town of Imatra by the summer of 2023.

It will eventually extend to a maximum of 200 kilometers (124 miles).

Finland’s 1,340-kilometer (832 mile) border with Russia is the longest of any European Union member.

The project is estimated to cost a total of 380 million euros ($393 million) and is scheduled to be completed by 2026.

The fence’s primary purpose would be to help border guards monitor and prevent possible large-scale illegal migration seen as a hybrid threat from Moscow.

Politicians and experts have said it is not sensible - or even possible - to erect a fence along the entire length of Finland’s long eastern frontier that runs mainly through thick forests.

The fence, initially proposed by the Finnish Border Guard, is set to be built in stages ranging from five kilometers (3 miles) of up to 52 kilometers (32 miles) and will be three meters (10 feet) high with a barbed-wire extension on top.

Apart from extensive patrolling, the Finnish border guard currently uses electronic and other devices to monitor border activity.

AP Video shot by Kostya Manenkov

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