The rest of the 135 km long barrier is to be completed by the end of 2025. The construction of the fence started three years ago.
TALLINNA/VANIGÕJÄRV The Estonian Police and Border Agency PPA took possession of forty kilometers of brand-new border fence today. A total of 63 kilometers of barriers are now ready on the land border between Estonia and Russia.
The border between Estonia and Russia is 136 kilometers long. Estonia plans to fence it almost completely. The rest of the border runs through Lake Peipsijärvi and Narvajo.
Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets (sd) emphasized at the press conference organized at the southeastern border that the eastern border of Estonia is not only the eastern border of Estonia.
– This is the external border of the Schengen area and the EU. It is from this fence that the free world begins, Läänemets said in his speech.
The price per kilometer is almost half a million euros
The part of the barrier fence that has now been completed was the most challenging of the entire construction project, stated the Director General of the Estonian Police and Border Agency Egert Belichev.
The area’s terrain is very varied: there are forests, rivers, swamps and sloughs. Part of the terrain floods in spring.
– But even though it was a very difficult project, it was completed almost a year and a half ahead of schedule, Belichev praised.
Estonia decided to build a border fence after the Russian security service FSB intercepted Estonian security police officer I block Kohver from the border line in 2014.
The first section of the fence was built in 2020–2022. Its length was 23.5 kilometers and it was also completed a year ahead of schedule.
The construction work was accelerated by the Belarusian-engineered border crossings in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.
Technical control to cover the entire border
The fencing of the entire eastern border will be completed in Estonia by the end of 2025, the department head of the Ministry of the Interior Janek Mägi assured at the hearing of the Parliament’s Economic Committee last week.
– By the end of 2026, the entire terrain border will be equipped with technical control systems, Mägi added.
asked the Police and Border Agency how far along the barrier fence the surveillance systems have already been installed. The answer was reticent.
– Monitoring systems will be placed as the fence is completed, PPA spokesperson Kaarel Kallas replied by email.
In addition to the land border, Estonia also plans to equip 73 kilometers of the border along the middle of the Narva River with surveillance systems.
– According to our vision, the border would be 100% covered by technical control. We could see everything, including low-flying objects like drones, Mägi said.