Minister refers citizens´ protection as Finland signs EU migration statement

Finland together with 26 other European member states on Wednesday signed EU joint statement on migration at the informal ministerial conference of the Council of Europe held in Strasbourg, said the Ministry of the Interior in a press release.

Minister of the Interior Mari Rantanen represented Finland at the conference, which discussed topical migration issues and the role that the European Convention on Human Rights plays in addressing them responsibly.

“We need to talk openly about the balance between the individual rights of immigrants and what is in the best interests of our societies. For example, we must be able to deport a foreign national who has committed serious crimes back to their country of origin,” said Rantanen in the press release.

Migration involves constantly evolving challenges that could not be foreseen when the European Convention on Human Rights was drawn up.

“One of these challenges is the efforts of hostile states to use weaponisation of migration as an instrument of pressure. Finland has also been faced with a situation where Russia uses weaponised migration to exert pressure on Finland. The situation at Finland’s eastern border remains tense, and the risk of instrumentalised migration persists if the border crossing points were reopened,” the Minister added.

The conclusions of the ministerial conference will guide the Council of Europe’s further efforts to strengthen migration management and the functioning and effectiveness of the Convention system, said the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in a separate press release on Wednesday.

The ministers agreed on the further preparation of a political declaration concerning migration and security issues from the perspective of the Convention. The declaration is to be adopted at the Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Chișinău in May 2026.

The joint statement highlights the need to strengthen the Convention system’s capacity to address diverse migration phenomena – including human smuggling, border security and the expulsion of people guilty of serious offences – while respecting human rights.

The parties to the joint statement underlined the importance of constructive dialogue and shared responsibility to ensure the credibility of the system.