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Finland to start building fence on Russian border next year
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FILE - Russian passengers exit a bus to the passport control at the Vaalimaa border check point between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, Eastern Finland Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022. The long border between Finland and Russia runs through thick forests and is marked only by wooden posts with low fences meant to stop stray cattle. Soon, a stronger, higher fence will be erected on parts of the frontier. - photo by Sasu M'kinen/Lehtikuva via AP, File
HELSINKI (AP) — Construction of a planned barbed-wired fence along Finland's long border with Russia will start early next year, Finnish border guard officials said Friday, amid concerns in the Nordic country over the changing security environment in Europe. The initial three kilometer (1.8 mile) stretch of the fence will be erected at a crossing point in the eastern town of Imatra by the summer of 2023. It will eventually extend to a a maximum of 200 kilometers (124 miles).