Norway considering building fence along Russian border to curb migrant crossings.
Norway is considering building fencing along the country's border with Russia amid ongoing concerns over migrant crossings, Norway's Justice Minister Emily Anger Mel said in an interview with Norway's NRK media outlet. Mel said that the country is looking at "several measures" to increase security along the nearly 200 km northern border with Russia, including building fences. "A border fence is very interesting, not only because it can act as a deterrent but also because it contains sensors and technology that allow you to detect if people are moving close to the border" Mel told NRK in an interview published late on Sept.
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No details have yet to be provided about a potential plan and it is unclear as to whether the whole 200 km border would be fenced off. The consideration follows neighboring Finland's construction of a border fence after Finland accused Russia of weaponizing migration by encouraging migrants from countries like Syria and Somalia to cross the border. Finland closed its land borders with Russia late last year after more than 1,300 asylum seekers crossed over from Russia.
Pointing to concerns over a lack of security at the Norway-Russia border, Mel cited a 2015 example of approximately 5,000 asylum seekers who arrived at the Sturskug border in northeastern Norway - the only legal land border crossing between the two countries. No data was immediately available as to how many Russian migrants crossed the border since the start of the full-scale invasion. In November 2023, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that the country may follow the example of Finland and close its land border crossing with Russia "if necessary" - although it has yet to do so.
Reports of Moscow-orchestrated migrant crisis echo the strategy used by Belarus against its NATO neighbors. Minsk has been facilitating flows of third-country migrants to the Baltic countries and Poland since 2021.
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The Kyiv IndependentThe Kyiv Independent news desk