Estonian Interior Minister Igor Taro has announced the completion of construction on two more border sections along the land border with Russia.
The total length of the new sections between the Koidula and Saatse border crossing points is 26 kilometers. A fence has been installed along 14 kilometers, while the remaining stretch has been equipped with 30-meter observation towers, ERR reports.
The work cost 12 million euros, and the construction was co-financed by the European Union.
Taro noted that the land border is now covered by infrastructure along 80% of its length, and by the end of the year the figure will rise to 90% after the next two sections—20 kilometers in total—are commissioned. At the same time, the final 14 kilometers of the border require a separate solution due to difficult natural terrain with bogs and marshy land.
The next major step will be to equip the completed sections with a drone surveillance system. The first stationary devices for detecting and tracking drones were installed in the summer between the Estonian-Latvian-Russian crossing point and Luhamaa, and the rest of the territory will be outfitted over the course of this year.