As walls go, it’s shaping up to be far less imposing than the Berlin Wall and not nearly as politically divisive as former President Donald Trump’s coveted barrier between the U.S. and Mexico.
But Finland’s planned border fence with Russia looks to be a major geopolitical statement, one that could fuel even greater tensions between the Kremlin and the West while signaling that Russia’s war in Ukraine may have forever altered Europe’s attitude toward its hostile neighbor.
Finnish border guard officials announced recently that they will begin construction next spring on a nearly two-mile stretch of fence on the Finland-Russia border near the eastern town of Imatra, according to Euronews and other media outlets.