Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are jointly developing the Baltic defense line to boost security on their borders with Russia and Belarus.

Estonia has said it will install hundreds of bunkers and has already begun digging anti-tank ditches. The work is mostly taking place in southern Estonia in Võru County and negotiations with landowners are taking place.

Pevkur said he was satisfied with Estonia's progress last year, which included finalizing the designs for hundreds of bunkers as well as their pre-positioning and purchasing barriers.

"That said, the overall pace could definitely be quicker. But we also clearly see that there are certain internal challenges within government institutions," he said.

The minister said a solution needs to be found with the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) to ensure the bunkers and an anti-tank ditch can be built either within the border zone or very close to it.

"So there is definitely more work to be done between agencies. But the funding has already been allocated. Last year's decision to raise defense spending to 5 percent has made it possible to make the necessary decisions," he added.

There may also be possibilities to use European Union funding to strengthen the eastern border.

"All of these efforts have been good. But of course, if we now have to move the anti-tank ditch slightly further from the borderline, then we will need to acquire more private land, and that is definitely one of the risk factors that could impact the overall schedule," Pevkur said.

"So yes, we have risks, but they are all known, and we are addressing them. We hope to reach a positive outcome. And this year is already planned to be the most intensive phase of the defense line construction — also financially — so significantly more has to happen this year," the minister said.

Agreements with landowners needed

Chair of the Riigikogu National Defense Committee Kalev Stoicescu (Eesti 200), said he had also initially hoped for a quicker implementation process.

"Naturally, as always, there are certain problems, including the fact that some of the land is privately owned. A result of the property reform process from the early 1990s, when people were given back land extending nearly to the control line in Southeast Estonia," the MP said.

"And now, if there is a plan to dig an anti-tank ditch ten meters from the border fence to allow border guards to patrol in between, then that land already belongs to someone."

"This situation was not anticipated in the early '90s. At the same time, there are not huge numbers of landowners involved, but there are some. We are a rule-of-law state and have to respect private property, and that means negotiating separately with each individual," he added.

"We need to find ways to make that happen. But overall, I sincerely hope everything progresses at the pace we have been told it would," Stoicescu said.

On Monday, representatives of the Estonian Defense Forces and the Center for Defense Investments updated the National Defense Committee about the project's progress.

"The full content and details of the briefing are not public, but we can share that the first bunkers have now been installed in Võru County. The process has been gradual and is being used to gather feedback on the suitability of the final product," said communications specialist Kristjan Halg.

"In addition, a 500-meter stretch of the anti-tank ditch planned for the defense zone has been completed," Halg said.

He added that a number of storage areas are currently being assembled. The necessary equipment has already been procured and placed in pre-storage zones, and procurement processes have taken place for both materials and land use.

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