The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Federation's chargé d'affaires to express protest and deliver an official note regarding the unlawful crossing of the "temporary control line" – the border – on December 17.

The violation occurred on the Narva River at the Vasknarva breakwater in eastern Estonia, where Russian border guards were present on Estonian territory without authorization for approximately 20 minutes. It is not known if the act was a deliberate provocation.

"We have increased monitoring in the area and are ready to respond," Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said.

He added that the best answer to Russia testing borders is to continue providing support for Ukraine and increase political and economic pressure on Russia.

A meeting of Russian and Estonian border guards took place at the scene of the violation at 1 p.m. on Thursday. Minister of the Interior Igor Taro (Eesti 200) said the Russian side delayed the meeting for two hours "for technical reasons."

"Based on what we hear, we can plan our next steps," Taro said at the government's weekly press conference, reiterating that such actions by the Russian border guard are completely unacceptable.

This section of the border dates back to the Soviet era, when it was marked as an administrative boundary between the Estonian SSR and the Russian SFSR. After Estonia regained its independence, it became the control line between the two countries.

The ministry's reference to the "temporary control line" is related to the unratified border agreement between Russia and Estonia.

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