Isamaa leader urges full closure of Estonia's eastern border after airspace breach
Friday's violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter jets is a clear demonstration of why Estonia's eastern border needs to be closed, Isamaa Chairman Urmas Reinsalu said.
"I think it is appropriate to respond to this increasingly provocative activity from Russia by closing the eastern border. The security situation is clearly becoming more tense, also on the eastern border, and I think this is a relevant response to Russia's behavior," Reinsalu told ERR.
"We must also look at what our options are, what instruments we can express our condemnation with, and take countermeasures to Russia's actions. And this would be I think a justified step," he added.
Any eastern border closure should be coordinated with Estonia's neighbors to the south, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, Reinsalu added.
Minister of the Interior Igor Taro (Eesti 200) said closing the land border has not been discussed at this point in time as Friday's incursion was an aerial one, violating Estonia's maritime border, and not a land-based incursion.
"Anything concerning the land border depends above all on the threat assessment of what is happening on land, what is happening at the border crossing points, what is happening on our green border, on Peipsi järv. At the moment, there are no significant changes there. But naturally we will discuss and analyze the situation. If the sense arises that this needs to be done, then it will be. At present, an understanding like this concerning the land border does not yet exist," Taro said, also saying Reinsalu's appeal had been politicking.
Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) said closing the eastern border with Russia was not discussed by the security cabinet at Friday's meeting, following the incursion.
On Friday morning, three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets entered Estonian airspace without permission in the Vaindloo island area, remaining in Estonian airspace for nearly 12 minutes. This is considerably longer than any previous incursion, which had been for less than four minutes each.
Italian Air Force F-35 fighter jets currently stationed at Ämari with the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission responded to the incident and escorted the Russian planes out of Estonian airspace and in the direction of the Kaliningrad exclave.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
Source: Interview with Johannes Voltri.
