Revenge of the Kremlin?

Revenge of the Kremlin?

Niinistö said that it seems to him that this is the Kremlin's revenge for Helsinki's cooperation with Washington.

Niinistö's comments came after Finnish border police reported an increasing number of asylum seekers arriving at the border in southwest Finland, the Guardian reported.

Russia's border service generally stops people without valid EU visas from entering Finland, but on Wednesday, Niinistö claimed that Russia had started funneling asylum seekers to Finnish border crossings in retaliation as Helsinki plans to sign a military cooperation agreement with Washington.

Finland and Russia share a border of 1,300 kilometers, and that border is also the external border of the European Union. The Guardian states that since Finland joined NATO earlier this year, tensions between the two neighboring countries have become stronger.

Finnish security services have warned of an "increasing attempt at online espionage from Russia" since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine.

"I don't see the border issue being resolved in any other way, except with a very clear Finnish action," Niinistö said at a press conference in Bonn. The border service announced that by 18:00 on Wednesday, 74 asylum seekers had arrived at the border in southeastern Finland.

On Tuesday that number was 55, and on Monday 39. Referring back to his previous comments, Niinistö said that Finland should prepare for "certain malicious actions" by Russia, following Helsinki's entry into NATO.

"Yes, now we are constantly reminded, every day, that Finland has joined NATO. I understand that the problem will not be solved by itself," Niinistö said. A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry dismissed Niinistö's claims as "absolutely unfounded."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow deeply regrets Finland's decision to "distance itself from, as it previously described, good bilateral relations."