Parties in Finland agree on border fence with Russia

Finland's parliamentary parties are in agreement on building a fence on parts of the border with Russia, according to Finnish radio.
"It is about making sure that the border is well controlled and that we can preemptively influence situations that might arise on the border," Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told broadcaster YLE after a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday evening.
She said the government now wants to draw up proposals for a pilot project to be voted on by parliament later this year.
The construction of a small section of fence in the south-east of the country should provide more information on the conditions and costs, she said.
The final construction of the fence, which could be built along 130 to 260 kilometres of the Finnish-Russian border according to a proposal by the Finnish Border Guard, is to be voted on next year, the YLE report said.
According to the border guard, the costs are estimated at "hundreds of millions of euros" and construction is expected to take three to four years.
Parts of the opposition criticized the costs and duration of the planned construction on Tuesday evening. Finland has a 1,300-kilometre border with Russia.