Reputation, public image and communications

Reliable, professional and cooperative. These values have successfully guided the activities and communications of the Finnish Border Guard, as shown by recent surveys.

Citizens’ trust is the foundation for activities

In 2023, the Finnish Border Guard’s communications focused on the progress of strategic projects, the Balticconnector incident at the Baltic Sea and the eastern border security. Smooth collaboration between authorities in connection with the Balticconnector investigation and the related active communications made the Finnish Border Guard’s maritime security functions better known among the public at large. In the autumn, a multi-authority exercise for the management of large-scale illegal migration was arranged in order to test, for example, the plan for communications coordination. The exercise increased awareness about preparing for hybrid threats on land and at sea. Toward the end of the year, exercising turned into real action in response to the instrumentalised illegal migration over the eastern border.

In the Luottamus&Maine (Reputation&Trust) survey conducted by T-Media, the Finnish Border Guard was ranked, for the third successive year, as the most trusted public-sector organisation, sharing the top position with the Emergency Response Centre Agency. Citizens’ evaluations concerning the reputation and reliability of the Finnish Border Guard have been consistently at a high level. The survey respondents also viewed the Finnish Border Guard as the most successful in terms of its interaction and communications.

The Finnish Border Guard’s communications advance the strategic goals as well as the good and responsible governance of the Finnish Border Guard. In 2023, a development project was carried out with the aim to ensure the communications capability for the coming years. The contents and channels of communication were further developed along with continued personnel training to improve the availability and accessibility of services.

To strengthen the public sense of safety and security, communications are provided in a timely manner through multiple channels and in several languages. Based on the results of a usability survey, the Finnish Border Guard has developed its website at Raja.fi in terms of language versions, diversity of contents and user-friendliness. In particular, the extent of the Northern Sámi contents has been improved. Also, the usability of the Rajamedia site has been enhanced on the basis of user experiences.  The Finnish Border Guard has actively improved the data protection and privacy, accessibility and mobile use of its online communications.

In 2023, the Finnish Border Guard conducted a questionnaire survey among the residents of border and archipelago regions, border crossers and stakeholder groups. The survey compiled their views regarding the availability and accessibility of the Finnish Border Guard’s services, access to information in one’s native language as well as the communications of the Finnish Border Guard in general. The overall mean value of the respondents’ ratings increased (3.7 in 2023; 3.5 in 2022).

The greatest rise was seen in the ratings concerning the perceived sufficiency of guidance and information in one’s native language, including Finnish, Swedish and Sámi (3.91 in 2023; 3.68 in 2022).

Tom Hanén of the Finnish Border Guard and Taito Vainio of the Emergency Response Centre Agency received the awards for the most trusted public-sector organisations. Hanén commented on the survey: “We are very pleased with the outcome of the survey. It indicates that citizens experience that the Finnish Border Guard is working in their best interests. That is exactly our intention. We are grateful for the confidence shown to us and endeavour to earn it every day through our work.”