Russia sending migrants to our border, Estonia says

It has been reported that Estonia accused Russia of deliberately guiding would-be migrants toward its border with Latvia.

Earlier this week, Finland announced that it was sealing all crossing points between the two countries except for one.

The Finnish authorities claimed that Russian guards were encouraging people from countries such as Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Syria to try and cross the border.

The Kremlin has denied the allegations made by Finland; however, the Kremlin has not yet commented on the allegations made by Estonia.

It was announced last week by Finland’s prime minister that four border crossings would be closed in the south of the country.

The Russian government has been accused by Petteri Orpo of deliberately helping people who do not have proper documentation to enter the country.

Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Orpo informed the media that Finland was now closing all crossings except the northernmost Raja-Jooseppi crossing as of midnight local time.

Finland shares a 1,340km (833 miles) border with Russia.

Finland has said on Wednesday that more than 600 asylum seekers have arrived in the country over the past two weeks, according to the Reuters news agency, and that Russians are likely to have played a direct role in their arrival.

The Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported 75 migrants had attempted to enter Estonia from Russia through the Narva crossing point since Thursday. None had asked for asylum and all were turned back.

In response to increasing migration pressure from Russia, Estonia has prepared to close border crossings, a spokesperson for Lauri Laanemets told Reuters.

They said migrants were appearing at the Estonian border in small groups “in an orchestrated manner.”