Finland will again shut its entire border with Russia to stop an influx of asylum seekers, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said on December 14, just hours after Finland ended a two-week closure of all roads between the two countries. Helsinki has said a recent rise in asylum seekers is an orchestrated move by Moscow in retaliation for its decision to increase defense cooperation with the United States, a charge the Kremlin denies. The arrivals stopped when Finland shut the border in late November but resumed when two of the eight crossings were reopened, the Finnish Border Guard said.
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