Baltic States – CIS, Estonia, Legislation, Russia, Transport

"The bill aims to create legal clarity regarding the location of the temporary control line. It is currently difficult to foresee that the border treaty with Russia would be ratified in the near future, which is why it is extremely important that the location of the border control line would be clearly set by the Government of the Republic too," Pevkur said, as reported by the press adviser to the Ministry of the Interior.

The minister added that determining the coordinates will definitely improve prevention and detection of wilfully committed cross-border offenses as well as improves the quality of guarding and defending the border and quality of pre-trial proceedings of cross-border offenses. When the bill comes into force, Estonia can also provide maintenance of the border strip.

Pevkur said that the border treaty between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation was signed on 18 May 2005, but the Russian Federation has not ratified the treaty, and therefore the border between the two countries is considered temporary control line. "Thus, the determination of the coordinates of the temporary control line does not regulate the status of the state border of the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation, but states the de facto situation, which is valid until the ratification of the border agreement."