Finland to start building fence on Russian border next year

Russian passengers exit a bus to the passport control at the Vaalimaa border checkpoint between Finland and Russia in Virolahti, eastern Finland (Sasu M’kinen/Lehtikuva via 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, amid concerns in the Nordic country over the changing security environment in Europe.

The initial three-kilometre (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.