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Estonia eyeing 5-kilometer border zone with Russia

Previously, Estonian Interior Minister, Hanno Pevkur said that Tallinn was going to create "the EU’s foremost state-of-the-art" infrastructure on its border with Russia with 100% technical control

© Sergei Stepanov/ITAR-TASS

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TALLINN, August 4. /TASS/. Estonia is considering a five-kilometer wide land-border zone with Russia, in accordance with a related bill, approved by the country’s government on Thursday. "A frontier zone would be established to defend and protect the state’s land border, and provide for frontier regime enforcement," the Estonian government’s press service reported on Thursday.

Police will have the right to unrestricted movement across the frontier zone. Additionally, they will also be authorized to limit the presence of people there. Any activity in the zone, which may be regarded as a hindrance to protecting the border, would be concurred with Estonia’s Police Department and the Border Guard Service. Drone flights near the border area will also be restricted.

The Estonian government’s press office told TASS that the approved bill on establishing a frontier zone would now be submitted to the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) for final ratification.

Previously, Estonian Interior Minister, Hanno Pevkur said that Tallinn was going to create "the EU’s foremost state-of-the-art" infrastructure on its border with Russia with 100% technical control. Border guards will use surveillance cameras and drones, which will transmit real-time images of the situation to a tablet PC for monitoring.

Legally, no concrete Estonian-Russian border has yet been established. The frontier agreement, signed in February 2014 between the Estonian and Russian foreign ministries, is now undergoing ratification procedures in both countries’ parliaments.

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