Tallinn: Estonia’s border guard authority and its interior ministry have proposed shutting down the border crossing between Estonia’s Narva and Russia’s Ivangorod every night starting next month, citing the small number of crossings and the Ukraine conflict, the agency’s deputy chief has said.
The border crossing may be shut down indefinitely between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. (from 20:00 to 04:00 GMT) from May.
“This decision (to introduce overnight shutdowns) is supported by a number of factors. Firstly, the number of border crossers at night has significantly decreased, making it impractical to keep the border crossing point open 24 hours a day,” Veiko Kommusaar, the deputy director general at Estonia’s Police and Border Guard Board, was quoted by the ERR broadcaster as saying in a statement on Tuesday.
The authority also believes “it is not right” to “keep the Narva border crossing open around the clock” amid Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, he added.
On February 1, the Ivangorod border crossing point was closed for reconstruction, which drove the number of crossings down to 108,000 from 170,000 in January, the report said.
Last November, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that the country could close its border with Russia if necessary after Finland completely sealed its borders with the eastern neighbour.
UNI/SPUTNIK
