The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Urmas Reinsalu, said that the decision of the Russian authorities to withdraw Ukrainians willing to come to Estonia further from the border crossing, is not accidental, and behind it, there may be a plan to organize provocations.
“The appearance of a traffic jam at the border and its sudden disappearance is not accidental, it is a systematic activity that in one way or another can be provocative in relation to the borders of the European Union,” Reinsalu said on Thursday at a government press conference.
According to him, the formation of a queue of Ukrainians waiting to enter Estonia on the Russian side is a deliberate action of the Russian authorities, as well as the fact that refugees were taken from the border in an unknown direction. According to the minister, given that people arrived at the border crossing with the desire to enter Estonia, their disappearance from there should have been forcible.
“We do not have technical information about what kind of coercion was used, but it is clear that Russia has chosen those who are allowed to cross the border in the context of the war in Ukraine, and who are not,” he said.
At the same time, the Minister of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Estonia is ready to use all necessary means in the event of a threat on the border. “We condemn the fact that the Russian Federation does not allow military refugees across the border,” Reinsalu said.
