The European Union's border protection agency Frontex has deployed 55 officers to monitor Finland's border with Russia after Helsinki accused Moscow of Russian interference in a sharp increase in the number of migrants.
"We currently have 55 officers in Finland, the majority of whom are border police officers who carry out surveillance," Frontex spokesman Piotr Switalski told AFP.
The support, which was announced at the end of November, is scheduled to continue until the end of January.
"Of course, at any moment we are ready to change this depending on the changing situation. We can be here longer or shorter if necessary," Svitalski added. "We know that migration pressure is one of the tools used by the Kremlin, so we can expect this to continue," he continued.
According to Finnish authorities, nearly 1,000 asylum seekers, mainly from Somalia, Iraq and Yemen, have arrived at the 1,340-kilometer border separating the two countries since the beginning of August.
Helsinki has accused Moscow of deliberately directing these migrants to Finland, calling the Russian decision a "hybrid operation".
Finland's relations with its eastern neighbor have deteriorated since the invasion of Ukraine.
After Finland joined NATO in April, Russia warned it would take "countermeasures". /BGNES
