After Finland joined NATO, Russia threatened to send troops to the country’s border, but has yet to do so, Finland’s foreign minister told AFP on Tuesday.
In April, Moscow declared Finland’s alliance membership a “assault on our security” and threatened to “take countermeasures… in tactical and strategic terms.”
Finland and Russia are separated by a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border. The border between NATO and Russia has increased by two due to its membership.
“Russia announced military reforms and the creation of new units in northwest Russia already last December, referring to the expansion of NATO’s presence,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told AFP in an email.
“These efforts do not seem to have progressed very quickly,” she added.
“Russian resources seem to be tied up elsewhere at the moment,” she said, referring to Ukraine.
“The situation on the eastern border is calm.”
After decades of military non-alignment, Finland decided to join NATO in response to the Kremlin’s onslaught in Ukraine.
The 200-kilometer segment of the Nordic nation’s border with Russia is now being fenced in and is scheduled to be finished by 2026.
The majority of Finland’s borders are currently guarded by thin timber fences, which are primarily built to prevent cattle from crossing over.
On August 9, Russia reaffirmed the threat, accusing both Finland and Poland of endangering its security and pledging a response to the growing number of “threats” to its western border.
Poland has strengthened security on its border with Moscow’s close ally Belarus.
“Threats to the military security of the Russian Federation have multiplied in the western and northwestern strategic directions,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with military officials.
Those risks “require a timely and adequate response,” he added.
Valtonen said Finland was “always well prepared for different situations. Including this one”.
“NATO is a defensive alliance and does not threaten Russia any more than Finland does… Russia’s criticism of NATO is a long-standing position and it is nothing new,” she said.
