The Southeast Finland Border Guard held an exercise at three border crossing points aimed at testing new legislation allowing the rejection of would-be asylum seekers in an instrumentalised immigration scenario.
The exercise was carried out at the crossing points in Imatra, Nuijamaa and Vaalimaa, which have been closed for years, following suspected instrumentalised migration tactics by Russia.
Approved by Parliament last summer, the temporary border security act aims to combat possible future efforts to orchestrate mass border crossings. The government decided to close Finland's eastern land border in late 2023 due what it deemed to be instrumentalised migration orchestrated by Russia.
According to Southeast Finland Border Guard's Deputy Commander Major Antti Virta, the act enables officers to reject prospective asylum seekers if they do not meet the requirements.
The temporary act, which is due to expire at the end of this year, also allows the use of force by authorities. However, putting the law into effect always requires separate approval. The legislation applies to all of Finland's 1,340-kilometer land border with Russia.
At least so far, Finland has not implemented the law.
A number of authorities from abroad took part in the exercise, including border guard officers from Estonia, as well as the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex.
However, Frontex officers are limited in terms of the degree of force they are permitted to use, including restrictions on the use of weapons.
In order to address that issue, at the end of last year the Border Guard decided to draw on support from the European Gendarmerie Force, a multinational police agency with military status used in crisis management operations.
In a crisis situation at the border, Finland would call on the Gendarmerie forces' 800-person rapid response team, according to Virta.
"The use of gendarmerie forces could, for example, be a scenario of a difficult border situation and a military threat on the eastern border," Virta said.
Construction on stretches of fencing along the eastern border is due to be completed by the end of this year. When that work is done, the border guard will change how they operate, Virta explained.
"When we receive a real-time situational picture of the barrier fence from almost our entire border section, we must be able to react quickly to any deviation [at the border]," he said.
Virta noted that the fencing does not entirely prevent people from crossing the border, it does slow them down and gives Finnish authorities time to react.
"Previously, we had a barbed wire fence about a meter high on the border. Now, in challenging areas, like in Imatra, the fence is a functional tool for controlling instrumentalised entry," he explained.
The stretches of fencing also feature cameras and other sensors that are continually monitored with the help of artificial intelligence. The surveillance system alerts officers when unusual activity is detected.
Virta said that AI is particularly helpful in pattern recognition.
"But the fence also uses a lot of other technology," he said.
Next year, the Border Guard plans to use artificial intelligence-assisted tech to identify and locate radio signals and analyse communication traffic. At the same time, AI will also assist in identifying when there are people approaching the border who should not be there.
The agency has also received EU funding for the acquisition of unmanned surveillance drones. There are plans to use that technology for surveillance in the Gulf of Finland sea area, as well as the eastern border.