87 foreigners denied entry at Narva crossing point over Christmas weekend

During the Christmas period, 87 foreign nationals who had no legal grounds to cross the border were prevented from entering Estonia at the Narva-1 border checkpoint.
Fifty-three citizens of Moldova, 23 citizens of Russia, four citizens of Georgia, three citizens of Serbia, two citizens of Ukraine, one citizen of Tajikistan and one citizen of Belarus were not allowed to enter Estonia, the East Prefecture said.
"The most common reasons for border crossing denials were that the foreign nationals did not have the proper documents to enter the country, they were unclear about the purpose of their trip, or it was determined during the interview that the person might pose a threat to public order or the security of our country," the prefecture said.
All foreigners were banned from entering and returned to Russia.
The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) has said the Moldovans arriving at the border are not linked to the "hybrid attack" on Finland's border.
Russia canceled visa privileges for citizens of the European Union countries
At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that abolishes preferential treatment of Russian visas for citizens of some European countries.
We are talking about citizens of Denmark, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, as well as the European Union as a whole, with whom Russia has international agreements on simplified issuance of visas, the Russian news agency TASS reported, noting that these agreements were effectively frozen last year.
Citizens who were previously exempt from visa fees must now pay them. They include close relatives of people living in Russia, schoolchildren, students and postgraduates traveling for studies and internships, participants in scientific, cultural and sports activities. They also include businessmen, truck drivers and people traveling to Russia to visit civil and military graves.
The provision according to which the visa fee was $35 is suspended. The cost of Russian visas will increase depending on the urgency in the range from $50-300.
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Editor: Jevgenia Zõbina, Elizaveta Kalugina, Kristina Kersa