HELSINKI: Traffic arriving at Finland鈥檚 eastern border with Russia has 鈥渋ntensified鈥� during the night, the Finnish Border Guard said early on Thursday, while adding that the situation was under control.
Finland is closely monitoring the situation in its neighbor following President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 order of military mobilization, defense minister Antti Kaikkonen said on Wednesday.
鈥淭he number clearly has picked up,鈥� the Finnish border guard鈥檚 head of international affairs Matti Pitkaniitty told Reuters.
鈥淚t is an exceptional number in the sense that it clearly is busier,鈥� he said, adding that the situation was under control and border guards were ready at nine checkpoints.
Putin鈥檚 announcement, made in an early-morning television address on Wednesday, raised fears that some men of fighting age would not be allowed to leave the country and prompted one-way flights out of Russia to sell out fast.
Wednesday鈥檚 number of people crossing the border was, however, lower than during the weekend, according to Pitkaniitty.
He said 4,824 Russians arrived in Finland via the eastern border on Wednesday, up from the 3,133 a week earlier.
In northern Norway, there had been no changes in the number of Russians crossing into the Nordic country, a police official said.
鈥淣o changes,鈥� Soelve Solheim, section leader for operational immigration control at Finnmark police, said.