Estonian Interior Ministry considers it unreasonable to close the country's borders with Russia

Tallinn has a plan for closing its borders with Russia, but such a step may be unwise, Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets has said. This is reported by the TV and radio channel ERR.

"We have a plan in case we need to close this border [with the Russian Federation]. The only question is, can closing the border make the Russians change their minds? No, it won't," Läänemets said in response to a question about why the borders with Russia are still open despite the damage Moscow is allegedly doing to the Estonian economy.

He said closing the borders would lead to a "migration onslaught" that would require Tallinn to spend more.

"If [border closure] happens, we have to take into account that we will need to spend security resources on it. It will have very high costs for society. Is it reasonable? No, not reasonable," he concluded.

Builders of the Iron Curtain: The Baltics are shutting themselves off from Russia

Local authorities scare the population with bans and warnings

A day earlier it was reported that the Estonian authorities do not intend to introduce new restrictions on entry for citizens of Russia and Belarus, following Latvia, where the Parliament of the country introduced a bill proposing to tighten the rules for citizens entering from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In September 2022, the Baltic States (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) and Poland closed entry to the Schengen zone for Russians if they travel for tourism, cultural, sports and business purposes.