Finland's Deputy Chancellor of Justice has rejected a ministry proposal to further limit crossing points at the eastern border, because it did not adequately protect asylum seekers' rights.
Last week the government ordered the shutdown of four border crossings in Southeastern Finland, a move prompted by suspicions that Russian authorities had funnelled asylum seekers to the Finnish border as part of a 'hybrid operation'.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's (NCP) government was preparing to close four more checkpoints along Finland's eastern border, a move which would effectively cut off land crossings between Russia.
Yle has learned that Deputy Justice Chancellor Mikko Puumalainen, evaluated documents submitted by the interior ministry about the legal concerns involved in further tightening crossing points along the eastern border.
According to Puumalainen, the documents lacked the legal prerequisites needed to enable the proposal's advancement.
This was because they insufficiently addressed the rights of migrants, as required in the Finnish Constitution, EU law, the European Convention on Human Rights as well as other human rights issues.
As of early Tuesday evening, it remained unclear what elements of the proposal did not meet the legal requirements.
Following the news about the deputy justice chancellor's decision, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) told reporters in the Parliament Building that preparations for a new border tightening proposal were underway.
However, she did not specify details about the new arrangement.
Prime Minister Orpo said that the decision did not mean that everything has stopped, adding that there were other models of the legislation available and that work on the matter was continuing.
According to Orpo, it is a matter of a brief delay.
Edited to add minister Rantanen's comment that work on a new proposal has started.
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