Finland’s Border Guard confirmed on 26 February that construction of the country’s new eastern barrier has already reached 110 kilometres in South-East Finland and remains on track for completion later this year. The fence—ultimately stretching 200 kilometres in the most vulnerable sectors—combines a four-metre steel mesh, a service road and an integrated sensor network designed to detect, track and classify movements in real time. Colonel Jaakko Olli, Commander of the South-East Finland Border Guard District, said the barrier has already prevented two illegal crossings in 2026 and markedly improves officers’ response times.
The project was launched after a sharp rise in so-called “instrumentalised migration” from Russia in late 2023, when Finland temporarily closed all eight road checkpoints along the 1,340-kilometre frontier. Parliament subsequently earmarked €362 million for a multi-year programme that pairs physical infrastructure with AI-assisted cameras, anti-drone systems and new radio-technical surveillance. Hundreds of Finnish companies have contributed to the works; at peak, 600 workers and 150 machines have been active on site each day.
![Finland accelerates eastern border fence—110 km completed, AI-enabled surveillance to follow]()
In this context, VisaHQ’s Finland portal (https://www.visahq.com/finland/) can simplify the paperwork: the platform provides real-time visa requirements, digital application tools and expedited courier options for Schengen, work or transit permits, allowing employers and travellers to adjust itineraries quickly as the new border regime takes shape.
For global-mobility managers, the fence signals that land-border crossings with Russia will remain highly restricted for the foreseeable future, with commercial travel and logistics flows forced to reroute via Estonia, the Baltics or air and sea options. Organisations that rotate staff through Finnish plants or data centres near Lappeenranta, Imatra or Joensuu should build in longer lead times for parts deliveries and be prepared for occasional access bans during testing of new security systems.
Businesses employing Russian or Belarusian nationals in cross-border commuter roles must also monitor the forthcoming technical surveillance rules: once the system is live, authorities will receive precise time-stamped data on any attempt to approach the fence, tightening enforcement of work-permit conditions and overstays. HR teams are therefore advised to audit travel-history records and confirm that foreign employees possess alternative Schengen travel routes if emergency repatriation is ever required.
The project was launched after a sharp rise in so-called “instrumentalised migration” from Russia in late 2023, when Finland temporarily closed all eight road checkpoints along the 1,340-kilometre frontier. Parliament subsequently earmarked €362 million for a multi-year programme that pairs physical infrastructure with AI-assisted cameras, anti-drone systems and new radio-technical surveillance. Hundreds of Finnish companies have contributed to the works; at peak, 600 workers and 150 machines have been active on site each day.
In this context, VisaHQ’s Finland portal (https://www.visahq.com/finland/) can simplify the paperwork: the platform provides real-time visa requirements, digital application tools and expedited courier options for Schengen, work or transit permits, allowing employers and travellers to adjust itineraries quickly as the new border regime takes shape.
For global-mobility managers, the fence signals that land-border crossings with Russia will remain highly restricted for the foreseeable future, with commercial travel and logistics flows forced to reroute via Estonia, the Baltics or air and sea options. Organisations that rotate staff through Finnish plants or data centres near Lappeenranta, Imatra or Joensuu should build in longer lead times for parts deliveries and be prepared for occasional access bans during testing of new security systems.
Businesses employing Russian or Belarusian nationals in cross-border commuter roles must also monitor the forthcoming technical surveillance rules: once the system is live, authorities will receive precise time-stamped data on any attempt to approach the fence, tightening enforcement of work-permit conditions and overstays. HR teams are therefore advised to audit travel-history records and confirm that foreign employees possess alternative Schengen travel routes if emergency repatriation is ever required.
