Germany's Wadephul visits Finland to discuss security, Ukraine support

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul is set to visit Finland on Wednesday and Thursday for talks focused on regional security and continued support for Ukraine amid ongoing tensions with Russia.

Wadephul is due to meet his Finnish counterpart, Elina Valtonen, in Helsinki. The security situation along Finland's border with Russia and support for Ukraine are expected to be high on the agenda. Wadephul's visit to Finland follows a trip to Norway's Arctic region.

The two ministers will also visit a border patrol vessel on Wednesday and travel to the Finnish-Russian border on Thursday, Germany's Foreign Ministry said.

Finland's more than 1,300-kilometre border with Russia has been under heightened security since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Since Finland joined NATO in April 2023, it has become the alliance's longest land border with Russia.

Finland closed its land border crossings with Russia in December 2023, accusing Moscow of directing migrants to the frontier to destabilize the country. In June, Helsinki decided to keep the crossings closed, saying the risk of what it described as instrumentalized migration remained.

The closure does not apply to air or maritime borders. Finland has also reported an increase in incidents involving Ukrainian drones that accidentally crashed on its territory, although Finnish authorities say there is currently no direct military threat.