Europe Must Close Its Borders with the Russian Federation to Prevent a Large-Scale Hybrid Threat

On November 18, Finland will close 4 of 9 checkpoints on the border with the Russian Federation, Finland’s Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo announced. This is explained by the increased number of illegal entry of illegal Asian migrants who use the Russian Federation as a “transit country.” In turn, Norway is also ready to take the necessary steps and close the border with the Russian Federation, if needed. On the north-eastern borders of the EU and NATO, Putin is creating the situation Poland faced at the end of 2021, when thousands of migrants stormed its border from Belarus, seeking to reach Europe. This is a typical hybrid threat and the Kremlin’s revenge on the West, which Putin hates and openly calls an enemy.

The artificial movement of human flows into the EU is a hybrid threat, first tested by Russia back in 2015. Then, after Russia entered the war in Syria, hundreds of thousands of Syrians were forced to flee to Europe. Then, the Russian Aerospace Forces used carpet bombing to destroy entire settlements, denying people shelter. Thus, the EU for the first time faced an uncontrollable influx of refugees, which became the Kremlin’s hybrid threat and a shock to Europe.

Now Putin is trying to repeat the same: it is no secret that Russian special services supervise the movement of refugees from Asia, who subsequently end up in Europe. Given the significant length of the Russian-Finnish border, the number of migrants in the EU may soon exceed all acceptable limits, and then Europe will face increased crime, street violence, religious extremism and epidemics. This catastrophic scenario can only be prevented by complete closure of the border with the Russian Federation. Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland must work out an appropriate plan in advance. This is a matter of the national security of each EU country.