Estonia fortifies narva river with high-tech buoy barriers
The management of the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) plans to build a water border infrastructure. Pontoon fences and buoys are set to be installed on the Narva River. The previous ones were removed by the Russians.
Only a small portion of the Estonian-Russian border is on land—merely a 135-kilometre section of the 338-kilometre border. The remainder consists of water borders—from the Gulf of Finland through the Narva River and Lake Peipus.
Estonia focuses on protecting water borders
As part of a pilot project, Estonia plans to build water border infrastructure. For testing, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) chose a system of buoys anchored at the bottom of the water body and floating pontoon fences.
The buoys easily rotate in the water. They cannot be climbed or grabbed, and in some areas, they are equipped with blades. A similar solution, as Veiko Kommusaar, Deputy Director General of the PPA, told the Estonian broadcaster ERR, was introduced last year by the American state of Texas on the Rio Grande, the border river with Mexico.
In June, border services detained four illegal immigrants who tried to enter Estonia via the Narva. A month later, a pontoon with 13 immigrants from India was stopped on Lake Lämmijärvi.
For the protection of water borders, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board intends to allocate 1 million euros. The pilot program is set to start next year and last up to three years.
Protective systems are to be installed first in places that are the easiest for migrants to cross. The question is whether they will manage winter conditions.
In May, Russian border services removed the Estonian buoys placed on the river, claiming they were on their territory.
