Finland, Russia take fresh migration measures

Finland and Russia have taken some fresh initiatives to enhance the ongoing cooperation between the neighbouring countries on the migration issue.

Interior Minister Paula Risikko on Wednesday met with her visiting Russian counterpart Internal Affairs Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev in Helsinki to discuss the issue, said an official press release.

This was the ministers’ second bilateral meeting. They discussed bilateral issues such as combating cross-border crime. Other issues on the agenda included the migration situation in Finland and Russia, regional cooperation in crime prevention between the law enforcement authorities, and combating drug-related crimes.

The meeting was also attended by Chief of General Administration for Migration Issues Olga Kirillova and Chief of General Administration for Drug Control Andrey Khrapov. Both the General Administration wings operate under the Russian internal affairs ministry.

“We had a very fruitful conversation today with the leaders of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and managed to drive things forward,” said Risikko, expressing satisfaction at the outcome.

Last year, Finland and Russia signed a memorandum of understanding on migration cooperation. The aim of the MoU was to deepen the cooperation between the migration authorities of the two next-door neighbours, for example, in the prevention of illegal immigration.

During their talks, the ministers noted that the MoU has been implemented effectively. During the past year, a number of migration seminars and meetings have been organised both in Finland and Russia.

“It is extremely important that we can exchange information on the migration situation, developments in migration legislation in our countries and return issues, for example,” Risikko said.

Regional crime prevention cooperation between Russia and Finland is based on the crime prevention agreement concluded in 1993 and regularly updated cooperation plans made with the regions of Murmansk, Karelia, Leningrad, and the City of St Petersburg.

The plans for 2018 were adopted at a meeting of the Finnish and Russian crime prevention committees held in Murmansk last summer. The ministers noted at the meeting that regional cooperation had become more active as a result of the signing of these plans.