Finland to close both border crossings with Russia that it reopened today

The Finnish government has decided to close the two border crossings with Russia that were just reopened, according to Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen.

Finnish news outlet Helsingin Sanomat reported that the reason for the closure was the renewed influx of asylum seekers. According to Finnish news agency Yle, at least 62 asylum seekers arrived at the two checkpoints over the course of the day, including citizens of Somalia and Syria.

Finland first started closing border crossings with Russia in mid-November due to a wave of asylum seekers from countries in Africa and the Middle East. On November 30, it closed all crossings along the Finland-Russia border. On December 14, Finland reopened two of the crossings.