According to the ministry, from the beginning of the year through May 18, more than 212,000 people from 107 countries passed through the Narva border crossing.

Nearly half of all crossings were made by Russian citizens. In addition, about 42,000 Estonian citizens, 17,000 people of undetermined citizenship, 16,000 Finnish citizens, 14,000 French citizens, and around 4,000 Israeli citizens crossed through the checkpoint.

Taro said that restoring the previous operating regime at border checkpoints will only be possible after the end of the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine and compensation for the damage caused.

The minister explained that the main cause of long waiting times remains enhanced customs checks, which are necessary to prevent the export of sanctioned goods to Russia. At the same time, the Interior Ministry emphasized that it is not responsible for organizing customs operations and cannot influence the speed of inspections.

The minister also rejected proposals to open additional crossing points or to organize passenger bus inspections in Sillamäe. According to him, doing so would require reallocating staff from Narva, which would further slow down the main border crossing. For the same reason, reopening the "Parusinka" pedestrian bridge (the Narva-2 crossing point, closed at the end of November 2022) is not being considered.

Taro also noted that there is currently neither funding nor a legal framework for introducing an electronic system to reserve time slots for border crossing.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends not traveling to Russia, and we fully support this recommendation. The fewer people and the fewer goods traveling to Russia, the faster the border crossing process. Due to the location of the border checkpoint in the city of Narva, it is physically impossible to organize queues inside the building or provide seating. In the urban area, people can purchase basic necessities, use restrooms, and there are also restroom facilities at the checkpoint itself," Igor Taro added.

He also said that using the truck terminal as a waiting area for crossing the border is not a good solution due to its location. At the same time, the minister promised to once again assess various options for making more effective use of existing infrastructure.

In addition, Taro noted that after reducing the operating hours of the border checkpoint, the freed resources of the Police and Border Guard Board were redirected to strengthening security along Estonia's eastern border.

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