The Estonian Defence Forces’ General Staff has reported that a Russian border guard ship entered Estonia’s territorial waters without permission and remained there for 35 minutes.

Source: European Pravda, citing ERR

Details: The incident occurred on 26 July east of the island of Vaindloo. Estonia’s navy monitored the situation, identified the vessel, and confirmed the border violation.

Under Estonia’s State Borders Act, foreign military vessels may only pass through territorial waters under the right of innocent passage, and must notify the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs 48 hours in advance. The Russian vessel did not do so.

On 28 July, Estonia summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires over the incident.

The Russian diplomat was issued with a formal protest and handed an official note regarding the breach of Estonia’s maritime border.

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia’s violation of Estonia’s maritime border was a serious and unacceptable incident, noting that this message had also been conveyed to the Russian Federation’s chargé d’affaires.

Background:

In May, the Estonian Navy attempted to intercept the Jaguar – a tanker reported to be part of Russia’s shadow fleet – as it sailed through international waters in the Gulf of Finland en route to the port of Primorsk.According to the information available, the tanker’s crew refused to comply with orders from Estonian border officials, but the vessel eventually left Estonian waters.In response to Estonia’s actions, Russia deployed a fighter jet which the Estonian Defence Forces said violated the country’s airspace.At the time, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the incident demonstrated Russia’s readiness to defend its shadow fleet.

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