Meanwhile, the government’s plans to construct a short length of fence along the Russian border for testing purposes are moving forward, STT reports.
Finnish authorities suspect four people of illegally crossing the border from Russia to Finland on Sunday evening, according to the Southeast Finland Border Guard.
The agency said a patrol unit spotted the group crossing the border at around 8.30pm on Sunday.
The incident occurred in the municipality of Lappeenranta, near the Suokumaanjärvi lake, a body of water that also crosses the Russian border.
The Border Guard said it is also investigating a border crossing incident earlier on Sunday. In that case, authorities suspect eight individuals of visiting the border zone at the Joukionsalmi lake area in the municipality of Parikkala.
Five of those people illegally crossed into Russia from the Finnish side of the border, in order to photograph themselves next to a Russian border sign, according to the agency, which added that it has opened a criminal investigation into the incident.
STT: Fence trial plan moves forward
Finland is gearing up to quickly build a short length of fence along the eastern border, in a trial effort ahead of planned further fencing construction, the Finnish news agency STT reported on Monday.
According to STT’s information, the government has a general consensus of agreement about the fence trial effort but had not made a final decision on the matter as of late on Monday afternoon.
Last week, the Ministry of the Interior proposed 139 million euros in funding for measures along the eastern border including partial fencing. That funding would also cover the cost of monitoring technology, road construction and land reclamation. The government has set aside around six million euros towards the pilot effort.
The Border Guard wants to use the fence trial effort to explore the situation with possible tenders and contracts, as well as negotiations with landowners about land reclamation.
