Estonia mulls closing border crossing point with Russia

Estonia is discussing the closure of one of the five border crossing points with Russia as traffic has dropped significantly and relations are unlikely to improve in the next five years, the country’s Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets said.

He noted that changes to car traffic may be made at the Koidula crossing point in south Estonia and the issue is being studied.

"We would like to have the analyses ready in the second half of this year, and then we will be able to see what the impacts are and whether or not it is justified to go ahead with this. There is no decision at the moment, the analyses are only now starting to come in," Läänemets told ERR on May 11.

The minister cited a steep decrease in the number of crossings — by almost 80 per cent in total and mostly in south Estonia, bad relations with Russia, and cost savings as reasons behind the move.

"Do we need two adjacent points [Koidula and Luhamaa] when border crossings have fallen by almost 50 per cent?" Läänemets questioned.

He also argued that “given Russia's aggressive behaviour, nothing will change here in the next few years, maybe in the next five years, and traffic will not be restored as it is.”.

Läänemets said it would be possible to install an automatic gate at the Koidula crossing so people with permission could continue to cross without supervision. A similar system was recently installed at the Saatse crossing last month.