Estonian parliament rejects bill to close border with Russia
12 November 2025 13:11
The Estonian parliament rejected in the first reading a bill on the complete closure of the border with Russia proposed by the Batkivshchyna party. This was reported by Postimees, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
20 deputies voted in favor of the initiative, 47 voted against. Thus, the document was withdrawn from consideration. At least 51 votes are required for its adoption.
The bill was supposed to oblige the government to assess the need to close the border and take measures to ensure the safety of Estonian residents. The authors of the initiative argued that this would reduce risks and avoid incidents on the control line. They referred to the “aggravation of the situation on NATO’s eastern flank” and cited the violation of the alliance’s airspace by Russian drones, the West 2025 military exercises, and provocations at the border, including the relocation of Russian border buoys on the Narva River.
The bill was opposed by a number of politicians, including Narva Mayor Katri Raik. The Estonian Ministry of the Interior has stated that there are no grounds for a complete closure of the border.
“There is currently no threat assessment that would require the closure of the eastern border,” explained Janek Mägi, head of the Border and Migration Policy Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Earlier, the Estonian authorities limited the operation of checkpoints on the border with Russia. In particular, crossing in Narva is allowed only during the daytime and is accompanied by a full inspection.
For the first time, the Batkivshchyna party raised the issue of closing the border with Russia in December 2024. At the time, its leader Urmas Reinsalu, who served as Estonia’s Foreign Minister in 2022-2023, explained the need for immediate closure by the incident with the damage to the Estlink-2 electric cable by a Russian “shadow fleet” vessel.
At the same time, amid growing fears among European intelligence agencies about Russia’s possible aggressive actions against European countries, Estonia began construction of defense structures along the Russian border in September. It is planned to build about 600 bunkers capable of withstanding a direct hit by 152 mm shells. The first 14 of these fortifications are to appear this year in the northeast of the country. In addition, Estonia intends to establish a military base in Narva to strengthen the defense of its eastern borders, according to the Chief of the General Staff of the country’s Defense Forces, Major General Vahur Karus.
