The Border Guard

The Finnish Border Guard is an internal security agency operating under the Ministry of the Interior. The aim of our activities is to maintain peaceful conditions in the border areas of our country. Our main tasks are to guard Finland's borders on land and at sea, carry out border checks on persons at land border crossing points, ports and airports, and perform search and rescue operations, particularly at sea. Because Finland is a member of the European Union and a Schengen country, our activities focus on the external border.

The Border Guard coordinates search and rescue at sea activity, performs searches and transports ill or injured persons within the area under its control. The Border Guard also performs police duties and customs controls at border crossing points not covered by the Finnish Customs. At sea we cooperate with the Finnish Transport Agency, Finnish Transport Safety Agency Trafi, Defence Forces and environmental authorities. The Border Guard has up-to-date response equipment for oil and chemical pollution incidents.