The Police and Border Guard Board (PBGB) and the Ministry of Interior wish to keep the Narva border crossing point open from 07:00 in the morning until 23:00 in the evening, starting in May.
As of February this year, Russia ended the possibility for vehicles to cross the border via the Narva border crossing point. This has led to a decrease in the number of border crossings, from over 170,000 inbound and outbound crossings in January to around 108,000 in February. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of night crossings. In February, 13,000 people crossed the border in Narva at night, almost twice as little as in January.
Veiko Kommusaar, Head of the Border Management Department, explained that all things considered, it was reasonable to close the border crossing point during night hours. “Such a decision is supported by several factors. Firstly, there has been a significant decrease in the number of night-time border crossings, which makes it impractical to keep the border crossing point open around the clock. Secondly, we do not consider it right that while Russia is waging a full-scale war against its neighbour and Estonia does not recommend visiting Russia, the PBGB is spending Estonian taxpayers’ money to keep the Narva border crossing point open 24/7.”
“Closing the border crossing point during night hours does not mean it will remain empty – PBGB officers will continue to be there around the clock and there will be no reduction in the number of staff. This decision will give us the opportunity to reorganise our work in such a way as to carry out more in-depth checks on border crossers during the day and, if necessary, reinforce surveillance at the green border,” added Kommusaar, Head of the Border Management Department.
Ursula Riimaa, Deputy Director General for Customs at the Tax and Customs Board: “It is important for customs to maintain thorough inspections to prevent the movement of contraband and to monitor sanctions at the eastern border. In our view, international trade has already been diverted from Narva, and from now on we will focus on daytime checks of travellers’ luggage and goods at the Narva customs office.”
“The Ministry of the Interior has drafted a proposal to change the working arrangements at the border crossing point and will send it to the government as soon as possible. We are hoping for a decision in a couple of weeks, so that we will be able to introduce the new procedure as early as May,” said Joosep Kaasik, Undersecretary for Internal Security at the Ministry of the Interior.
Kaasik added that Estonia has consistently recommended to completely avoid travelling to Russia, among other reasons because security considerations may require immediate closure of border crossing points and returning to Estonia via the usual route would not be possible. “Therefore, the risks of possible changes in access to Russia have been known for a long time,” said the undersecretary.
The proposal to close the Narva border crossing point during night hours is made for an indefinite period.
