The European Parliament has decided to add a discussion on the situation on the Finnish-Russian border to the agenda of the plenary session for Tuesday evening. The discussion will take place with representatives of the EU Commission and the Council of Member States, and will not include voting on parliamentary resolutions. It is intended to direct the attention of the MEPs to the situation on Finland’s eastern border. The speeches of the Parliament’s groups have been summarized for the Finnish MEPs, and the discussion will start at ten in the evening Finnish time.
The issue was put on the agenda of the parliament by Eero Heinäluoma (SD) and Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner of the Basic Finns party. Both believe that the discussion is important because the situation on Finland’s eastern border can worsen. People may be pushed across the border and lured with false promises.
Other party members, such as the coalition MEP Petri Sarvamaa, also consider the discussion important and find it essential to raise the issue in the EU for the overall security and support of the EU. The situation is viewed as a way for Russia to undermine Finland’s ability to operate in its border area.
MEP from the center Mauri Pekkarinen says that raising the issue in the EU is important from the point of view of border security. Elsi Katainen notes that the Finnish government has intervened well in the events of the eastern border. On the other hand, Ville Niinistö is concerned about the human rights obligations in Finland’s activities and the threat assessments from the Government.
Silvia Modig of the Left Alliance believes that asylum rights should exist, and says that the government has more detailed information about the development costs of the eastern border than the MEPs. The discussion is being viewed as an essential aspect for demonstration and as a way to keep a cool head on the matter.