Russia’s redirection of migrants could increase pressure on Estonian border
Director General of the Information Board Mikk Marran said to ERR yesterday that Russia had been using the flow of refugees as a “migration weapon”, and also stated that if this weapon should be directed at Estonia, the country’s border crossing points would be under serious pressure.
In his assessment, Estonia had the necessary means to deal with such an increase of incoming migrants.
Marran said that this tactic had been used against Norway, Sweden, and Finland already to test the strength of their border guard. “In the same way they’re testing the capability of those societies to deal with such pressure,” he said.
He added that it had also been interesting to see how this inflow of migrants into these countries had suddenly stopped. “To me this is a clear sign that what was going on could only have happened with the Russian authorities’ endorsement, if not at their initiative,” Marran said.
According to Marran, Moscow’s active influencing of the direction of refugees ended when the governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland got in touch with the Russian authorities. It was an interesting fact that a lot of the refugees that had crossed their borders had had residency permits for Russia already for years. “This means they were gathered, put on buses, and taken to the border,” Marran said.
Situations arising from Russia’s political tactics involving migration could actually develop, Marran said. “If they want to use this weapon against Estonia or Latvia, that’s certainly possible. But I’m sure that our authorities will keep an eye on how the everyday situation develops, and the Police and Border Guard Board is ready,” Marran said.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn