VILNIUS, October 29. /TASS/. Estonia’s Foreign Ministry brought in Russian Charge d’Affaires Lenar Salimullin to express its dissatisfaction with Russia’s position about border lines along the Narva River after Russia removed some border buoys from the waterway in May, the ERR national broadcaster said.
"For decades, both sides have concurred on the current waterway course and, hence, about the temporary control line between Estonia and Russia. This made it possible to establish clear and safe navigation zones for all vessels on the Narva River," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. However, Russia refused to measure the river bottom to specify shipping channels, Tallinn claimed.
ERR reported in July that the Estonian Foreign Ministry had proposed to work with Russia to take measurements on the Narva River, which serves as a demarcation line between the two countries. The Estonian side argued that conditions in running water reservoirs might have changed over the past decades and the shipping channels could be interpreted differently by the sides.
The issue of agreeing the river’s midstream came to the fore after the countries plunged into disputes over buoys placed on the river. According to ERR, early on May 23, the Russian side removed 25 buoys it claimed had been placed in Russia’s waters by Estonia. Tallinn however dismisses these allegations and hopes to settle the dispute by means of joint measurement taking.