The new measures are intended to enforce restrictions on movement, stopping vehicles, photography or filming near national defense sites. Members of the Defense Forces or the Defense League will be able to apply the rules if they have received the relevant training.

"If someone is operating near a Defense Forces site, it is possible to detain that person and inspect their belongings. When applying measures, both proportionality and the requirement that measures are applied only as long as necessary must be observed," said Margit Gross, deputy secretary general for legal and administrative affairs at the Ministry of Defense.

The security zone covers 300 meters in densely populated areas and up to one kilometer in sparsely populated areas. The Riigikogu's National Defense Committee is still reviewing the draft legislation and preparing possible amendments.

"This is certainly an infringement, but an infringement justified under the Constitution, since this concerns the common interest of all people in strengthening national defense and security," said Kalev Stoicescu (Eesti 200), chairman of the Riigikogu National Defense Committee.

Lawyer and Defense League member Kaido Künnapas said personnel must must be proportionate and must not turn into abuse of power. The current draft is broadly worded.

"You can detain people to check whether there may be a threat. It is a very vague topic. Unfortunately, public order law often operates based on such vague criteria," he said.

If the implementation of the law crosses the line, it may damage the reputation of the EDF and the Defense League, the lawyer said.

"Imagine, for example, that a foreigner comes to Estonia, walks around the Ministry of Defense building, sees that it has cool architecture and takes pictures there. If they are detained and questioned about why they are taking photos, you may not be able to explain that it is a security area," Künnapas added.

The first reading of the draft law will take place in the Riigikogu next week.

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