A country that "abolished" borders is now bringing them back and building a big, barbed wire fence?

In an interview with Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, published late on Saturday, Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said the idea of ​​a border fence is very interesting, not only because it can act as a deterrent, but also because it contains sensors and technology that allows border patrol to detect if people are moving close to the border.

She said the Norwegian government is currently considering "several measures" to strengthen border security with Russia in the Arctic north, such as fencing, increasing the number of border staff or increasing surveillance.

According to the Daily Mail, if the security situation in the delicate Arctic region worsens, the Norwegian government is ready to close the border in the short term, said Mehl, who visited neighboring Finland this summer to learn how the entire Finnish-Russian border of 830 has been closed.

The Finnish government has been urged to close all border crossings from Russia to Finland at the end of 2023 after more than 1,300 migrants from third countries without proper documentation or visas - an unusually high number - entered the country in three months, just months after the nation became a member of NATO.

It is recalled that Finland has already implemented similar measures to prevent Moscow from using migrants in what the Finnish government calls Russia's "hybrid warfare".

Helsinki is currently building fences totaling up to 124 miles in separate sections along the border zone that forms part of NATO's northern flank and serves as the European Union's external border.

Finnish border officials say the fences are equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance equipment - which will be located mostly around the crossings - which is needed to better monitor and control all migrants trying to cross from Russia and give officials time to react.

Inspired by Finland's project, Enger Mehl said that such a fence could be a good idea for Norway as well.

As reported by NRK, that statement was supported by the Police Chief Ellen Katrine Hætta in the Norwegian county of Finnmark in the north.

Norway, a nation of 5.6 million, is a member of NATO but not part of the European Union.

However, it belongs to the Schengen area of ​​the EU, whose participants have abolished border controls at their mutual borders, guaranteeing the free movement of citizens.