Border between Estonia and Russia
The border between Estonia and Russia remained unchanged in its current form between the end of World War II in 1945 and 2011. Both countries belonged to the Soviet Union until 1990 . The length of the border with Russia, which is part of the Schengen Area border , is 294 km. In the north, Estonia borders on Leningrad Oblast and in the south on Pechory Raion in Pskov Oblast .
Much of the border between the two states runs in the water, through the canal, the Narva River and Lake Peipus . In the south it is mostly land area over which the border runs. When Estonia joined the EU and NATO , parts of it were called into question. The new demarcation dragged on for several years, because the State Treaty had already been signed in May 2005, but could not be passed by the beginning of 2011 due to the constant new implementation provisions from the Estonian side in parliament. Even Russia had not yet ratified the law at this time. It took a total of more than 10 years for the new division of the country between the two states to take effect. The Estonian government explicitly referred to the Peace of Dorpat (Tartu Treaty) of 1920, which regulated the demarcation of borders. In the preamble , the Estonian side emphasized that, contrary to the Tartu Treaty, they had lost territories with the annexation of their country in 1945.
In 2011, after more than ten years of negotiation, the border treaty between the two countries was ratified first by Estonia, then followed by Russia.
In the area of Narva both sides of the boundary reside predominantly Russischsprachige. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the internal border became a state border and the infrastructure was partially interrupted. Where there used to be a dense network of roads and paths, today many connections end at the border fence. There are currently two border crossings for normal road traffic and pedestrians, namely the bridge of friendship between Narva and Ivangorod ( E20 ) and from Latvia as far as Pskov leading E77 , as well as road and railway border crossing Koidula. A privately financed ferry connection across Lake Peipus, expected in 2004, which was also to be used to export construction sand to Estonia, had not progressed beyond the project stage by 2014.
What is remarkable is the strong change in the direction of trade turnover before and after the establishment of the border. Until the early 1990s, many Russian residents went to Estonia to shop because the quality and choice were better at roughly the same prices; today, Estonian consumers shop in Russia because of the lower prices. The most sought-after products include sugar, alcohol, cigarettes, gasoline, and all kinds of services.
An official from the Estonian Kaitsepolitsei , Eston Kohver , was arrested by troops of the Russian Federation in September 2014 and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment for espionage and detained for over a year. On September 26, 2015, he came back to Estonia as part of an agent exchange .
Bicycle traffic
The international long-distance cycle routes Eurovelo 10 ("Baltic Sea Cycle Route ") and Eurovelo 13 ("Iron Curtain Trail") run across the Estonian-Russian border .
Web links
- Christian Neef: "Down with the border" about Russia's uncertain relationship with its neighbors; Mirror 52/1992
- Johannes Thumfart: "Estonia: Journey to the Edge of Europe" Industrial ruins and deciduous forests in their original state. Only a river separates the twin cities Narva in Estonia and Ivangorod in Russia. Here the EU comes to an end; DIE ZEIT September 29, 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ Geografia.ru
- ↑ Russia 1 ( Memento of the original from December 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 3, 2005.
- ↑ Korabel.ru
- ↑ Faina Svedovaya: Small border traffic on the Russian-Estonian border ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , February 2005.
- ↑ Birgit Johannsmeier: "Fear of the unpredictable neighbor" deutschlandfunk.de from September 22, 2014, viewed on December 3, 2014
- ↑ translator2: EuroVelo 10 - Eurovélo. Retrieved May 26, 2019 .
- ↑ webmaster: EuroVelo 13: experience the history of the division of Europe - Eurovélo. Retrieved May 26, 2019 .
