Finland erects barriers at border with Russia
to control migrant influx
Issued on: Modified:
Finnish border guards and soldiers began erecting barriers including concrete obstacles topped with barbed-wire at some crossing points on the Nordic country’s lengthy border with Russia to better control an influx of migrants, officials said Wednesday. Finland said it will close three more crossing points, leaving only one Arctic point open for migrants seeking asylum.
Some 600 migrants without proper visas and documentation, mostly from the Middle East and Africa, have arrived in Finland in November compared to a few dozen in September and October. The arrivals include residents of Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Kenya, Morocco and Somalia, border officials said.
In other words, entirely Muslim!
“We need to do this to maintain order (at the crossing points) and guarantee the security of legal border traffic,” Tomi Tirkkonen, deputy commander of the Kainuu border guard district in eastern Finland, told The Associated Press.
The Kremlin has voiced regret about Finland’s decision to close the checkpoints and rejected Finnish authorities’ claims that Russia has encouraged the influx of migrants at the border to punish Finland for joining NATO.
Tirkkonen's district monitors and surveils two of Finland’s nine crossing points on the border with Russia, which runs 1.340 kilometers (830 miles), serves as the European Union’s external border and makes up NATO’s northeastern flank.
The Finnish government decided to close four busy Russia border crossings in southeastern Finland last week over suspicions of foul play by Russia’s border officials.
Late on Wednesday, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told reporters that measures taken on Nov. 16 “unfortunately haven't been able to stop this phenomenon; on the contrary.”
He said the government would therefore close three more crossing points — Vartius, Kuusamo and Salla — and leave open only Raja-Jooseppi, Finland's northernmost checkpoint with Russia.
It's located about 1,100 kilometers (684 miles) north of the capital, Helsinki, and will remain, as of Saturday, the only Finnish crossing point that accepts asylum applications from migrants coming from Russia.
“Undoubtedly Russia is instrumentalizing migrants” as part of its “hydrid warfare” against Finland, said Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen on Wednesday. Finland joined NATO in April after decades of military non-alignment and pragmatic friendly relations with Moscow.
“We have proof showing that, unlike before, not only Russian border authorities are letting people without proper documentation to the Finnish border but they are also actively helping them to the border zone,” Valtonen said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday that Russian authorities are ready to work together with Finnish officials to reach an agreement on the border issue. She argued that Finland should have “put forward its concerns to work out a mutually acceptable solution or receive explanation,” she said.
On Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Finnish ambassador in Moscow to lodge a formal protest over the closure of the most actively used checkpoints on the border.
Some 30-70 migrants have been arriving each day at the Vartius checkpoint in Kainuu and the Salla checkpoint in Finland’s Arctic Lapland region, where winter conditions include minus 20-degree Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit) temperatures and plenty of snow.
Andrei Chibis, governor of Russia’s northern Murmansk region that borders Finland, on Wednesday posted pictures of migrants in a tent near the Salla checkpoint set up by the regional authorities to let them warm themselves up, eat and drink hot tea. He described the situation as a “humanitarian crisis” and blasted the Finnish authorities, saying “foreign citizens can’t cross the border" to the Finnish side.
Most of the migrants are young men in their 20s and 30s but some are families with children and women, border guard data and photos from news outlets indicate.
The number of migrants attempting to cross into Finland is unusually high and Orpo's center-right government has accused Moscow of deliberately ushering migrants to the Russia-Finland border zone that is normally under heavy control by Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB.
“There’s been a remarkable change in Russia’s modus operandi” in regard to migrants and their movement on the Russia-Finland border, Tirkkonen said, adding that Finland is set to get some assistance from the EU’s border and coast guard agency Frontex to deal with the situation.
Finland, a nation of 5.6 million people, joined NATO in direct response to Russia’s war with Ukraine. Many interpret Moscow’s migrant maneuvers as a retaliation against Helsinki opting to join the Western military alliance but analysts say Russia’s primary motive for such as action remains unclear.
(AP)
German police raid homes of Hamas members
in crackdown on 'glorification of terror'
Nov. 23 (UPI) -- German federal police mounted dawn raids Thursday on the homes of 15 alleged Hamas members and supporters in Berlin and three other states across the north and west of the country, national security officials said.
Search warrants were also executed at properties linked to the newly banned pro-Palestinian Samidoun organization in a crackdown on Islamic groups authorities believe are a threat to peace and stability in Germany in the wake of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the Interior Ministry said in a news release.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution believes there are at least 450 Hamas sympathizers in Germany involved in disseminating propaganda and financing or fund-raising for the group.
The Samidoun Palestinian Solidarity Network, the ministry said, endangered "peaceful coexistence, advocates the use of violence as a means of asserting political interests and supports associations that advocate and threaten attacks."
Neither of the groups, both of which were banned Nov. 2 by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, has carried out any acts of violence in Germany.
Of course not, they just want those Deutsche Marks
"We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists. With the bans on HAMAS and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of the barbaric terror of HAMAS against Israel," Faeser said following Thursday's raids.
"Islamists and anti-Semites cannot and must not feel safe anywhere here. These extremists must expect the full force of the rule of law. We are continuing our consistent action against radical Islamists,"
Faeser, who said Hamas' activities in Germany were illegal and sought to undermine international understanding enshrined in the country's laws, also alleged members and supporters were "committed to influencing the political and social discourse in Germany in the spirit of Hamas."
Samidoun was banned over demonstrations in which Israel's right to exist was "systematically denied" and anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement through chanting "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free."
The ministry said the "glorification of Hamas' terror" had been particularly serious since its attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.
Who would have thought that Germany would show Europe how to handle the Palestinian supporters. At least it's a good start.
Switzerland to ban ‘Hamas activities’ and
‘support’ for the group
On October 7, the West finally saw what Muslim Brotherhood (MB) offshoot Hamas is: that is, that it is no different from the Islamic State. Switzerland’s pending legislation demonstrates its recognition that Hamas has no place in the West. Neither do other Muslim Brotherhood offshoots, for that matter, because their modus operandi involves resorting to violence under certain conditions — such as a solid base of support and an infidel enemy that is perceived to be weak and/or unprepared.
The Muslim Brotherhood promotes the idea that jihad is “a mandatory religious duty,” and teaches that “this is followed by the power of arms and weapons… This is the role of Jihad.”
The Swiss government is living up to its obligations to protect the security of its citizens, and to preserve the rule of law and peace in the country.
Switzerland moves to ban Hamas and supports
Israel’s self-defence rights
by Greta Ruffino, Euro News, November 23, 2023:
The Swiss government says it will pass a new law by the end of February to ban any “Hamas activities” or “support” for the Palestinian group.
The Swiss Federal Council recently designated Hamas as a “terrorist organisation” and considers this new policy as the “most appropriate response” to the events that have been unfolding in the Middle East since Hamas fighters launched a deadly cross-border raid from inside Gaza to Southern Israel on 7 October.
Switzerland will terminate contracts with three Palestinian NGOs found to have “instances of non-compliance” while maintaining contractual relationships with eight other NGOs….
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