Finnish court finds no discrimination against Russian residents in eastern border's closure

HELSINKI. March 14 (Interfax) - The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland has refused to consider complaints lodged by Russians residing in the country and their family members about the closure of Finland's border with Russia.

"The appeal court has found that the decisions on closing the border did not directly affect the claimants' situation, and therefore, they have no grounds for appeal," the website Yle said on Thursday.

A group of Russian-speaking residents of Finland earlier appealed to the Supreme Administrative Court against the Finnish government's decision to close the eastern border. In the plaintiffs' opinion, such decisions constitute discrimination against the Russian-speaking minority and violate fundamental human rights.

The applicants also indicated that the trips across Finland's eastern border that they make on a regular basis for work, business, study or family reasons are an integral part of the lifestyle of Russian-speaking residents of Finland, and the border's closure therefore restricts their freedom of travel, among other things.

The Finnish government announced in February that the crossing points on the eastern border that had been repeatedly shut down previously would remain closed until April 14.

According to the Finnish government, Russia has allegedly organized illegal migration by third-country nationals into Finland in a bid to destabilize the situation in the country, thereby threatening its national security.