Finland’s Border Guard confirmed on 25 November that construction of the first sections of its new eastern frontier fence is “almost complete” in Lapland, with the four pilot stretches at Onkamo, Kelloselkä, Raja-Jooseppi and Virtaniemi due to be handed over by mid-December. The nine-kilometre Lapland segment is part of a €362 million programme to erect roughly 200 kilometres of physical barrier—4.5 metres of welded mesh topped with razor wire—along the most vulnerable border zones with Russia.
The fence project was launched after unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers without Schengen visas arrived from Russia in late 2023, which Helsinki labelled “instrumentalised migration”. Parliament responded by passing emergency legislation that allows officials to suspend asylum processing at land crossings and redirect claims to airports and ports. The legislative package was renewed in June 2025 and remains in force until at least the end of 2026.
![Finland’s Eastern Border Fence in Lapland Nears Completion]()
Technically, the fence sits exactly one metre inside Finland’s border zone, allowing electronic sensors and cameras to monitor the unfenced stretches in between. Openings for wildlife appear every three kilometres, while maintenance gates are placed every 500 metres. Lessons learned from similar fencing in Poland prompted engineers to tighten the mesh so that objects cannot be passed through the gaps.
For mobility and supply-chain managers the implications are immediate. All eight road checkpoints on the Russian frontier have been closed since December 2023, forcing trucks to detour by ferry via Tallinn or Stockholm—adding costs and several days’ lead time for project cargo bound for northwest Russia. Business travellers who previously crossed by car must now route via air or sea, triggering new visa and insurance requirements. Companies with staff stationed at Finnish mines and forestry concessions near the border should adjust emergency-response plans, as medical evacuations may have to go west to Oulu rather than east to Murmansk.
Analysts caution that only the most frequently exploited 15 per cent of the 1,340 km border will be fenced, so surveillance technology and rapid-response patrols remain central to Finland’s hybrid-threat doctrine. HR teams should brief travellers that photography near the fence is prohibited and that drones are banned within the border zone without advance permission.
The fence project was launched after unprecedented numbers of asylum seekers without Schengen visas arrived from Russia in late 2023, which Helsinki labelled “instrumentalised migration”. Parliament responded by passing emergency legislation that allows officials to suspend asylum processing at land crossings and redirect claims to airports and ports. The legislative package was renewed in June 2025 and remains in force until at least the end of 2026.
Technically, the fence sits exactly one metre inside Finland’s border zone, allowing electronic sensors and cameras to monitor the unfenced stretches in between. Openings for wildlife appear every three kilometres, while maintenance gates are placed every 500 metres. Lessons learned from similar fencing in Poland prompted engineers to tighten the mesh so that objects cannot be passed through the gaps.
For mobility and supply-chain managers the implications are immediate. All eight road checkpoints on the Russian frontier have been closed since December 2023, forcing trucks to detour by ferry via Tallinn or Stockholm—adding costs and several days’ lead time for project cargo bound for northwest Russia. Business travellers who previously crossed by car must now route via air or sea, triggering new visa and insurance requirements. Companies with staff stationed at Finnish mines and forestry concessions near the border should adjust emergency-response plans, as medical evacuations may have to go west to Oulu rather than east to Murmansk.
Analysts caution that only the most frequently exploited 15 per cent of the 1,340 km border will be fenced, so surveillance technology and rapid-response patrols remain central to Finland’s hybrid-threat doctrine. HR teams should brief travellers that photography near the fence is prohibited and that drones are banned within the border zone without advance permission.
