Finnish Interior Minister praises Estonian border security
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Finland's Minister of the Interior Kari Rajamäki noted on Thursday that Estonia's border controls correpond to European border security thinking. The European Union is to decide in December on the location of the EU’s Department of Border Control, and Estonia has put its name forward as a possible host country. Competing with Estonia for the post are Poland, Hungary, and Malta.
Rajamäki visited Estonia’s border with Russia on Thursday assessing the situation there. He noted that Estonia is one of three applicant countries whose border controls correspond to European border security thinking.
"However, it would seem that only Poland and Hungary are in the final stretch", Rajamäki said on Thursday evening.
Estonia’s Interior Minister Margus Leivo said that Estonia is still a strong candidate.
Leivo noted that Finland is seeking the post of head of the Department of Border Control, and that it is unlikely that the post will be granted to a country in the same region as the country where the actual office is located.
Estonia’s problem is that it does not have a border treaty with Russia. Officially the border is not even called a border, but rather a line of control.
In the south, the Russian-Estonian border runs through villages, one house, and a one-kilometre stretch of road known as "Värska’s Boot", which links the Estonian town of Värska with a number of rural villages.
"Russia blocked access to the road in 1995, and the Estonians living east of the road were cut off", notes Rein Orav, head of the Estonian border guard.
Now it is possible to drive along the road again. No stopping, and no pedestrians are allowed.
At least from the vantage point of Värska’s Boot, the Eastern border of the EU appears quite easy to cross.
"If someone wants to come across the barbed wire, and if there is a car waiting on this side, he will get away", Orav says.
"Understandably, getting a border treaty would be important for us", noted Interior Minister Leivo. He believes that in a final border treaty, the road would be made part of Estonia. However, in his view the lack of an official treaty does not weaken Estonia’s position as an expert of the EU’s border control authority.
"We have all border types. We have maritime, river, lake, and forest borders. Information technology is certainly more highly developed than in some other applicant countries", Leivo pointed out.
Estonia is also an EU border country, although it does not yet have the same kinds of problems with illegal immigration as Southern Europe has.
Most illegal crossings of the border between Estonia and Russia take place in Southern Estonia. They are usually fishermen, people picking mushrooms and berries, or curious tourists. However, Estonia is also prepared for increasing numbers of illegal arrivals, now that it is a member of the EU.
"For now, illegal border crossings have been on the decline", said Tiiu Leis, information officer for the Estonian border guard.
So far, the Värska Boot has not been used by those seeking illegal entry into the EU. They usually enter the country legally, and seek to move on using forged papers. Leis says that many Ukrainians have tried to use Estonia as a transit country for the rest of the EU.
Estonia and Finland are to agree today on continued cooperation between the border guards of the two countries. Finland’s priority is to develop ways of fighting white-collar crime.
Rajamäki visited Estonia’s border with Russia on Thursday assessing the situation there. He noted that Estonia is one of three applicant countries whose border controls correspond to European border security thinking.
"However, it would seem that only Poland and Hungary are in the final stretch", Rajamäki said on Thursday evening.
Estonia’s Interior Minister Margus Leivo said that Estonia is still a strong candidate.
Leivo noted that Finland is seeking the post of head of the Department of Border Control, and that it is unlikely that the post will be granted to a country in the same region as the country where the actual office is located.
Estonia’s problem is that it does not have a border treaty with Russia. Officially the border is not even called a border, but rather a line of control.
In the south, the Russian-Estonian border runs through villages, one house, and a one-kilometre stretch of road known as "Värska’s Boot", which links the Estonian town of Värska with a number of rural villages.
"Russia blocked access to the road in 1995, and the Estonians living east of the road were cut off", notes Rein Orav, head of the Estonian border guard.
Now it is possible to drive along the road again. No stopping, and no pedestrians are allowed.
At least from the vantage point of Värska’s Boot, the Eastern border of the EU appears quite easy to cross.
"If someone wants to come across the barbed wire, and if there is a car waiting on this side, he will get away", Orav says.
"Understandably, getting a border treaty would be important for us", noted Interior Minister Leivo. He believes that in a final border treaty, the road would be made part of Estonia. However, in his view the lack of an official treaty does not weaken Estonia’s position as an expert of the EU’s border control authority.
"We have all border types. We have maritime, river, lake, and forest borders. Information technology is certainly more highly developed than in some other applicant countries", Leivo pointed out.
Estonia is also an EU border country, although it does not yet have the same kinds of problems with illegal immigration as Southern Europe has.
Most illegal crossings of the border between Estonia and Russia take place in Southern Estonia. They are usually fishermen, people picking mushrooms and berries, or curious tourists. However, Estonia is also prepared for increasing numbers of illegal arrivals, now that it is a member of the EU.
"For now, illegal border crossings have been on the decline", said Tiiu Leis, information officer for the Estonian border guard.
So far, the Värska Boot has not been used by those seeking illegal entry into the EU. They usually enter the country legally, and seek to move on using forged papers. Leis says that many Ukrainians have tried to use Estonia as a transit country for the rest of the EU.
Estonia and Finland are to agree today on continued cooperation between the border guards of the two countries. Finland’s priority is to develop ways of fighting white-collar crime.
Helsingin Sanomat