The Finnish-Russian School in Eastern Finland is to be closed in three Finnish cities because of a potential threat to national security. The school’s director is against the closure, Iltalehti reported, citing sources.
The school has training centres in the cities of Lappeenranta, Imatra and Joensuu. 611 children study there, of whom 37% speak Russian. According to the publication, local authorities have already been informed of the decision to close the school, which “poses a potential threat to Finland’s national security.”
“We cannot allow a situation where one nationality, namely the Russian one, has its own school in Finland. Such an environment is prone to attempts to spread pro-Russian propaganda.” – the source told the newspaper.
Earlier, on September 2, Finnish authorities decided to increase the barriers being erected on the border with Russia to prevent migration by half a metre – to 3.5 m – and also decided to make the metal mesh thicker. Helsinki blamed Moscow for the influx of refugees; the Kremlin has repeatedly denied this.
As the department clarified, by the end of 2026, the Finnish border service will build a total of 200 km of fortifications on the eastern border.
