A van at the Nuijamaa, a border station between Russia and Finland in Lappeenranta, Finland, Nov 16, 2023. (PHOTO / LEHTIKUVA VIA AP)

HELSINKI - The Finnish government announced on Thursday that it has decided to close four border crossings with Russia in the southeast, starting on Nov 18.

Four other crossings on the northern end of the border will remain open.

"The closing of border crossing points at the eastern border will stop illegal entry into Finland," said Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen.

The decision will remain in force until Feb 18, 2024.

Finland, a European Union country whose accession to the NATO alliance this year after decades of non-alignment angered Moscow, shares a 1,340-km border with Russia that also serves as the EU's external border.

Dozens of asylum seekers from countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria have arrived each day this week via Russia, Finland's border guards have said, after fewer than one per day on average earlier in the autumn

"The government has today decided that Finland will close some eastern border crossing points. The eastern border for that part will close on the night between Friday and Saturday," Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said at a press conference Thursday, reports Reuters from Helsinki.

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Finland's non-discrimination ombudsman, Kristina Stenman, said Helsinki still had a duty under international treaties and EU law to allow asylum seekers to file applications.

"If a person comes to a border station and says they are seeking international protection, the application needs to be received," Stenman told Reuters.

Dozens of asylum seekers from countries such as Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and Syria have arrived each day this week via Russia, Finland's border guards have said, after fewer than one per day on average earlier in the autumn.

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The accumulated number of arrivals since September stands at 280 asylum seekers, the Border Guard Authority said on Thursday.

Asylum seekers arriving via Russia will from Saturday be allowed to hand in their applications only at two northern border crossings, the government said.

Some 3,000 people use Finland's southeastern border crossings on a daily basis. Orpo said he understood the closures would make everyday life more difficult for people allowed to travel between Finland and Russia.

With Reuters inputs