“The Deputy Chancellor of Justice assessed the draft decision (on border restrictions), the draft memorandum and the confidential memorandum presented today from the point of view of monitoring legality. Based on the documents, there are no legal grounds for further preparation of a decision with the proposed content,” Puumalainen said in a statement obtained by the newspaper.

In his opinion, the bill presented by the government on further tightening of movement on the border with Russia did not provide sufficient guarantees that the decision would preserve a real and effective opportunity to apply for international protection guaranteed by the constitution and legislation EU, ECtHR and other human rights documents.

The Finnish government is seeking to completely close all checkpoints on the border with Russia due to the uncontrolled arrival of refugees, and the Finnish Cabinet should also prepare for retaliatory measures from Russia, the newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The Finnish Cabinet of Ministers previously stated that due to the worsening situation with migration and the uncontrolled arrival of refugees on the border with Russia, it was decided to completely close the checkpoints in the southeast of the country closest to St. Petersburg from November 18 to February 18, 2024. Four out of eight checkpoints are closed, the remaining open checkpoints are located in northern Finland, only two of those operating – “Vartius” and “Salla” – accept asylum applications. On Friday, the newspaper IltaLehti reported, citing sources, that Ministry of Internal Affairs Finland is preparing bills to completely close all checkpoints on the border with Russia. On Sunday, Finnish Interior Minister Marie Rantanen confirmed data on the preparation of further restrictions.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, speaking about the closure of Finnish checkpoints on the border with the Russian Federation, said that the Russophobic position that the leaders of this neighboring country have now begun to adhere to is deeply regrettable. Peskov, speaking about the accusations against Russian border guards, said that they comply with all instructions, “the border crossing is used by those who have the legal right to do so,” and Moscow does not accept far-fetched accusations. Moscow does not rule out that the Finnish authorities may completely close the border with Russia, but they believe that in this case Helsinki would damage its own interests, the deputy head of the country told reporters Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russian Federation Alexander Grushko.