Finland extends land border closure with Russia until mid-April

HELSINKI -- The Finnish government on Thursday decided to keep the land border with Russia closed until mid-April, citing security concerns.

All crossing points on the Finnish eastern border have been closed to passenger traffic since mid-December. The country closed the first border crossings in mid-November in response to illegal immigrants.

According to the Interior Ministry, undocumented immigrants into Finland have mainly been of Middle Eastern and African origin, and half of them have asked for asylum. Some of them appear to have left Finland to travel onwards to other parts of the European Union.