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Estonia ready to shut down border with Russia to prevent 'hybrid attacks' — top diplomat

Margus Tsahkna underlined that Estonia was prepared to close its border with Russia and defend itself against any hybrid attacks

VILNIUS, November 30. /TASS/. Estonia is ready to close its border with Russia over the situation with migrants which Tallinn interprets as "hybrid attacks," Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said in a statement.

According to the Estonian Foreign Ministry, the top diplomat addressed the issue at a meeting of Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers (NB8) in Brussels, held on the sidelines of the NATO ministerial meeting. The top Estonian diplomat touched on the situation at the Russian-Finnish border and described it as "a blatant hybrid attack conducted by Russia, aimed at sowing anxiety and instability."

"Tsahkna underlined that Estonia was prepared to close its border with Russia and defend itself against any hybrid attacks. The ministers of Estonia and other countries expressed solidarity with Finland and said they were prepared to help Finland if necessary," the Estonian Foreign Ministry said.

On November 29, Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis said that the Baltic republic was not planning a complete (compared to Finland) closure of borders with Russia and Belarus.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that on November 29, Russia was notified by Finland of its decision to shut down the last functioning border checkpoint between the countries on November 30. That said, according to some media outlets, Poland is planning to dispatch a group of servicemen to Finland to assist in guarding the border.

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