The Kainuu Border Guard District is responsible for border security in Kainuu and Koillismaa as part of Finland's internal security system. The Finnish Border Guard employs approximately 200 employees, and it has surveillance responsibility for 406 kilometres of the national border between Finland and Russia.
The border guard district has five border guard stations and four international border crossing points – two on the land border and two airports. The Headquarters of the Kainuu Border Guard District is located in the city of Kajaani.
The Border Guard District’s operating environment is typical of the landscape in Kainuu and Koillismaa and includes forests, mires, waters and hills. Distances from one place to another are long and there are large areas of sparsely populated wilderness. In addition to border checks performed at border crossing points, patrolling the national border and technical border monitoring, surveillance tasks are also carried out on roads in the border area roads and in municipal centres. National defence tasks, such as protecting territorial integrity and maintaining defensive preparedness, are a natural part of the activities of the Border Guard District’s activities.
In addition to its border control tasks, the Kainuu Border Guard District supports other authorities by participating in the provision of essential security services, such as police and emergency response tasks, in remote areas.
Organisation
The Commander of the Kainuu Border Guard District is Colonel Tuomas Laosmaa, under whom operate the headquarters in Kajaani led by the deputy commander and five border guard stations led by the respective chiefs of the stations. The Headquarters in Kajaani consists of an operational border office, personnel unit and command centre.
The border guard stations are located in Kuusamo, Kortesalmi, Suomussalmi, Vartius and Kuhmo. The Kainuu Border Guard District employs approximately 200 people. In addition, technical and administrative personnel work in Kajaani under the Headquarters of the Kainuu Border Guard District.
