Russia has closed several border crossings with Finland, Estonia… (эстония · граница · финляндия)
Russia has closed several border crossings with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia, citing technical reasons. The decision was made by the Russian government and affects both rail and automotive checkpoints.
Consensus
- Russia has closed some border crossing points with Finland, Estonia, and Latvia
- The closure is effective starting July 1
- The action was taken by the Russian government
Points of divergence
- The closures are technically a formality because these border crossings had not functioned for years and were effectively closed four years ago when European countries unilaterally shut their borders. — vm
- Oleg Bondarenko, an expert from the Fund for Progressive Politics, stated that Moscow was not the initiator of this decision. — vm
- Bondarenko said it is meaningless to look for political motives behind the move and that these border points were already non-operational in practice. — vm
- Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhanovski previously complained about Russia's lack of response to a proposal from Tallinn regarding measuring the depth of the Narva River to clarify shipping lanes. — vm
- In late May, Estonian MVD claimed that Russian border guards had allegedly removed buoys on the river separating shipping lanes. — vm
Coverage (3 sources)
- Expert Bondarenko Reveals Why Russia Closed Border Crossings on the Western Frontier — Вечерняя Москва
- Russia closes part of border checkpoints on the borders with Finland, Latvia and Estonia — Вечерняя Москва
- Russia has closed some border checkpoints on the borders with Finland, Latvia and Estonia — Коммерсантъ