The European Union (EU) expects an explanation from Moscow regarding the removal of buoys on the Narva River, where the Estonian-Russian border passes.
The corresponding statement was made by the head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
The day before, on the morning of May 23, Russian border guards unilaterally removed light buoys installed by Estonia on the Narva River to demarcate the border with Russia.
According to Borrell, the European Union has been closely monitoring the situation in cooperation and solidarity with Estonia and other member states from the very beginning.
"This border incident is part of a wider pattern of provocative behavior and hybrid actions by Russia, particularly on its maritime and land borders in the Baltic Sea region. Such actions are unacceptable. The European Union expects an explanation from Russia regarding the removal of the buoys and their immediate return," Borrell said.
According to the Estonian Border Service, Russian border guards removed more than 20 buoys installed to mark territorial waters on the Narva River. Buoys are necessary to avoid accidental entry of ships into internal waters of the Russian Federation.
Due to the incident, the temporary charge dʼaffaires of Russia in Estonia Lennar Salimullin was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.
The Prime Minister of Latvia Evika Siliņa condemned the actions of the Russian border guards, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Elina Valtonen called the actions of Russia an unfriendly act.
- A few days earlier, the authorities of the Russian Federation unilaterally decided to change the countryʼs maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland in the Baltic Sea. The Russian Ministry of Defense proposed to declare part of the water area in the east of the Gulf of Finland, as well as near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region, as its internal sea waters.
- After the indignation of Lithuania and Finland, the corresponding project disappeared from the portal of projects of normative legal acts.