The three Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – are considering closing their borders with Russia amid fears that Russia is attempting to create a migration crisis by weaponising migrants who want to reach the bloc.
Following Finland’s border closure with Russia, the three countries have said that they are very concerned about a possible migrant crisis.
The same have said that they might introduce stricter border measures to prevent all forms of irregular migration, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
According to Politico, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Latvia said that the country does not plan to close the border with Russia completely.
However, the Ministry said for Politico that they will be carefully monitoring the “development of the situation with irregular immigration flows”. The Ministry further stressed that if the situation changes drastically and the country’s security is threatened, the complete closure of the eastern border is not excluded.
Estonia also previously said that the country could close its border with Russia if it sees an increase in the number of people trying to cross the border irregularly.
As Politico explains, a senior Lithuanian government official said that the country is also carefully monitoring its border with the Russian Kaliningrad region and, at the same time, stressed that the Lithuanian authorities will take stricter measures if needed.
The official further said that Lithuania supports Finland’s decision to close its border with Russia to prevent any forms of hybrid attacks.
Last week, Finland decided to close its last remaining open border crossing point with Russia.
Announcing the decision, the Ministry of Interior of Finland said that people will no longer be able to enter or leave Finland through the eastern border.
The Ministry also highlighted that applications for international protection will no longer be accepted at the border between Finland and Russia.
The decision of Finland to close the entire eastern border came as a response to Russia’s alleged facilitation of people reaching the country under harsh winter conditions.
Russia is enabling the instrumentalisation of people and guiding them to the Finnish border in harsh winter conditions. Finland is determined to put an end to this phenomenon.
Nato has also warned that Russia is using migration as a tool to put pressure on the EU countries.
On the other hand, Russia has denied such claims, saying that they are not assisting people to reach the bloc.