Estonia beefs up checks at Russian border to tighten sanctions

Estonian authorities are intensifying checks of individuals and goods at the Estonian-Russian border on Aug. 8 as part of the transition to full customs control.

The measure applies to all three crossings on the Estonian-Russian border: Narva, Luhamaa, and Koidula.

The new measures are designed to prevent sanctioned goods from entering Russia, the ERR public broadcaster reported.

"Declared destinations (of goods) often indicate third countries... but the practice shows that on the way to their destinations – mostly in Asian countries –  these goods stop halfway in Russia," Estonian Finance Minister Jurgen Ligi said.

The increased controls will effectively mean that anybody traveling to Russia will encounter a representative of the Estonian state, the minister added.

First media reports emerged back in July that Tallinn might tighten customs controls at the border due to mounting cases of attempted smuggling of sanctioned goods to Russia.

Estonia's already strained relations with Russia have further deteriorated since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Estonia is also ranked first in terms of financial contributions to Ukraine as a percentage of its GDP.

At the same time, Russia has engaged in a number of aggressive actions toward Estonia since February 2022, such as an incident in May in which Russian border guards unilaterally removed border markings from a river that separates Russian and Estonian territory.

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Editor’s Note: Kyiv Independent News Editor Nate Ostiller briefly attended a summer program at the same Estonian university where the main character of this report was a professor and received a passing grade in a one-week summer school course. A university professor is not the first profession th…

The Kyiv IndependentNate Ostiller