Closing the border and shooting down Russian aircraft. Estonia debates the reaction to provocations

In Estonia, firm reactions are discussed after three Russian military aircraft violated the airspace of this country for about 12 minutes. A similar incident has not happened in almost 20 years, i.e. since 2003, when Estonia was still outside NATO.

“Closing the eastern border is the right response to Russia's increasingly provocative actions,” said Urmas Reinsal, who managed the Estonian diplomacy in 2019-2023. According to the leader of the conservative party, the Homeland (Isamaa), the safety situation on the eastern border is clearly exacerbated. – Possible closing of borders should be coordinated with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland – he admitted in an interview with Radio Err.

In turn, the head of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson reminded the case of 10 years ago, when Türkiye in November 2015 shot down the Russian Su-24, which flew into its space for several seconds.

“17 S vs 12 min. Next time we will do it. If you know what I mean,” wrote a politician on Platform X.

According to the head of the Estonian Ministry of Defense, Hanno Pevkura “NATO was ready if they were forced to use force.”

The premiere of the country Kristen Michal, admitted that the opening of fire is determined by various criteria. “They were (Pilots of the Migs), but they did not leave as soon as they could do it. Therefore, the cited Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty and consultations with allies will answer what we will do next time” – said the head of the Estonian government.

This year, Russia has violated the airspace of Estonia four times. Earlier incidents lasted about a minute to a few minutes. On Friday morning, three Migi-31 broke into the space of Estonia on the island of Vaindloo on the Gulf of Finnish (about 90 km north-east from Tallinn). They stayed in the Estonian space for about 12 minutes, which allowed them to fly through a significant part of the bay on the Estonian side. They flew only at the height of the island of Hiuma in the Baltic Sea, the second largest island in the country.

The Ministry of Defense in Moscow denied on Saturday that three Russian military aircraft violated the Estonian airspace, making a planned flight from Karelia to the Królewiec region. “The flight took place in accordance with the international principles of using the airspace, without violating the borders of other countries, which is confirmed by objective control measures,” said the Russian ministry, which is quoted by the AFP agency.

From 2014, there have been more than 40 violations of the Estonian airspace through Russia. Estonia was admitted to NATO in 2004 (PAP)

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