The Constitutional Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) initiated a bill that provides for establishing a five kilometres wide frontier zone in order to make the guarding of the Estonian-Russian state border more effective. The state will have the right to restrict the stay in the frontier zone and also flying drones there.

Pursuant to the Bill on Amendments to the State Borders Act, the frontier zone is a five kilometres wide territory that runs parallel to the external border of the state. It is established for guarding and protecting the border and ensuring the border regime. The Bill provides that the police will have the right to restrict the movement and stay of persons in the frontier zone.

The Bill will also add a clause to the State Borders Act, according to which the state can by border regime restrict the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or drones) that impede border control or disturb border peace.

“Clear definition of the frontier zone in the law will give more effective levers for the protection of our external border, and will thus help increase the security of the external border of the European Union or the Estonian-Russian border,” Chairman of the Constitutional Committee Kalle Laanet said. “The Committee will also consider during the proceedings on the Bill whether it is necessary to add to it a restriction that would prohibit the owning of real estate in the frontier zone to the persons who are not citizens of the Contracting States of the European Economic Area and also to all legal persons.”

The Restrictions on Acquisition of Immovables Act presently in force allows the citizen of a contracting party to the EEA Agreement or any legal person whose seat is in a contracting party to the EEA Agreement to acquire immovables in local governments located in the immediate vicinity of the external border.

“It is not possible to adequately control the circle of owners of legal persons founded in the Contracting States of the European Economic Area, and lack of control may be a threat to the security of Estonia,” Laanet noted.

Riigikogu Press Service
Urmas Seaver
Phone: +372 631 6352; +372 50 39 907
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