Finland

HELSINKI, January 9. /TASS/: Helsinki will not reopen checkpoints on the border with Russia after January 14, Finnish Interior Minister Mari Rantanen told MTV3.

When asked if Finland’s eastern border would remain closed, Rantanen said: "This is the way it should be." The minister argued that there was no change in the migrant situation on the border with Russia, so "there is a risk that Russia will continue such activities if the border is opened."

HELSINKI, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Finland's record low temperatures this week inspired a tourist on a trip to the Arctic to try a trick that had long intrigued him: throwing boiling water in the air when it's extremely cold outside and seeing it turn into an instant cloud of icy dust.

This is not something to try unless the temperatures are at a level of cold that most places on earth rarely, or never, see.

HELSINKI (AP) — Finland and Sweden recorded their coldest temperatures of the winter Tuesday when thermometers plummeted as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) as a cold spell grips the Nordic region.

Cold and snow disrupted transportation throughout the region, including in Norway where a major highway in the south was closed due to the weather and ferry lines suspended operations. Swedish train operators said the cold snap caused substantial problems for rail traffic in the Arctic north.

HELSINKI, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) will pause all container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice, a spokesperson for the company told Reuters on Friday.

"Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice," the company said in a statement.

HELSINKI, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Finnish Transport Workers' Union (AKT) announced on Thursday that it would join strikes of Nordic transport unions in support of demands on U.S. automaker Tesla's operations in Sweden.

According to their statement, Finnish dockworkers will cease loading Tesla equipment on their way to Sweden from Dec. 20. Announcements of support were given by Danish and Norwegian unions earlier this week while dockers and postal workers in Sweden have already begun supportive actions.

HELSINKI (AP) — Prime Minister Petteri Orpo says Finland will close its entire border with Russia due to concerns over migration.

Orpo made the announcement during a news conference on Tuesday. Finland had only one remaining border checkpoint open, located in the Arcticm after the government closed seven others because of a surge in arrivals of migrants from the Middle East and Africa.

Finland accuses Moscow of ushering the migrants toward the Finnish border.

HELSINKI (AP) — When Finland joined NATO earlier this year, Russia threatened retaliation.

Now, hundreds of migrants from the Middle East and Africa have appeared at Finland’s border from Russia, seeking entry into the Nordic country.

Finnish officials say the sudden surge in asylum-seekers is no coincidence. They accuse Russia of driving the migrants to the border to sow discord as payback for Finland’s membership in NATO.

Here is a look at the migration challenge playing out along parts of Finland’s 830-mile (1,340-kilometer) border with Russia.

HELSINKI (AP) — The European Union’s border agency said Thursday that it will send dozens of officers and equipment as reinforcements to Finland to help police its borders amid suspicion that Russia is behind an influx of migrants arriving to the country.

Frontex said that it expects a “significant reinforcement” made up of 50 border guard officers and other staff, along with patrol cars and additional equipment, to be put in place as soon as next week.

HELSINKI, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Finland's President Sauli Niinisto said on Monday it had become impossible to return asylum seekers who did not meet the criteria for protection, and that this had to be taken into account when policies are set.

Over 500 asylum seekers, mostly from Yemen, Somalia, Syria and Iraq, arrived in Finland via Russia during the past two weeks, leading Helsinki to shut half its border crossings and accuse Moscow of funnelling migrants to its border.

HELSINKI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Finland will erect barriers at four crossings on its border with Russia from midnight, officials said on Friday, in a bid to stem an increase in migrants that Helsinki says has been orchestrated by Moscow.

Finland has accused Russian authorities of funnelling migrants to the crossings in retaliation for its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States, an assertion dismissed by the Kremlin.