Estonia reported that Russian officials removed numerous navigational buoys from the border river Narva. Just a few days ago, Russia's plan to shift its borders to the Baltic Sea became known. What it is is known.
The buoys were placed ten days ago and are now gone. A number of floating buoys used to mark sea routes in the Narva River have apparently been removed by Russian officials. All this is happening along the border between Estonia and Russia, informs ARD.
Rising tension
Estonia blames the neighboring country's border guards. She claimed that the Russians pulled out of the water 24 out of a total of 50 buoys in the border section. The authorities in Tallinn have already demanded an explanation from Russia and the return of the buoys.
The eastern border between the EU and NATO runs along the Narva River. The accusations against Moscow come at a time of rising tensions between Russia and the West. On Wednesday, it became known about the existence of a Russian bill providing for a possible change of maritime borders in the Baltic Sea. This fact caused serious concerns.
According to information from Estonia, the placement of buoys in the Narva River was agreed bilaterally years ago. After the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine, however, Russia expressed disagreement with the location of nearly half of the 250 markings that have always been placed during the active shipping season – this also applies to some of the buoys that have now been removed.
A new provocation
The head of Estonia's border guard, Egert Belicev, told Estonian Radio that it was "another provocation by Russia". However, Estonian border officials did not actively oppose the removal of the buoys to prevent further escalation. "We use diplomatic means to deal with such situations," he said.
The head of the Estonian government, Kaia Kalas, said that this was a border incident, the circumstances of which must be precisely clarified. "We will take a sober and balanced approach and, if necessary, we will talk with our allies. Here we see a pattern of behavior by which Russia is trying to instill fear with its actions," she said.