Whereas most of Estonia's eastern border follows water courses, in the far Southeast the border is on mostly forested and sparsely populated land.

The defense zone initiative would entail constructing over 400 underground bunkers, but most of these would be emplaced on privately owned land.

Kaido Tiitus, project managing the defense zone, told AK that: "We primarily require the land for installing bunkers; this is the first and most crucial step in our project."

"Approximately 70 to 100 square meters of land will be needed per bunker," he went on.

"The ongoing discussions revolve around how, in what way, and to what extent [his will happen] – while addressing the concerns local residents have about whether the same freedom of movement will be permissible afterwards, or what restrictions may be in place," Tiitus went on.

The Baltic Defense Line's creation is a joint initiative on the part of all three Baltic states and is aimed at ensuring their defense from the very first yard.

Estonia shares a border with the Russian Federation, while Latvia and Lithuania share borders both with Russia (in Lithuania's case via the Kaliningrad/Königsberg exclave) and with Russia's ally, Belarus.

Rõuge Rural Municipality Mayor Britt Vahter meanwhile said: "The process is very much in its initial phases, so it would be highly appropriate to discuss it before actual construction begins."

"We have already heard a lot of new information that hadn't been previously disclosed in the media—such as the defense zone extending 40 kilometers in depth, which is quite a startling claim," Vahter went on.

"This would mean that Rõuge Municipality and, in fact, half of Võru County, will be covered by this defense zone," Vahter added.

An info meeting held in the village of Misso, in Rõuge municipality and less than 10 kilometers from the Russian border, saw local residents expressing concerns about the construction of defense facilities on their land.

Questions included how and under what conditions the sale of the land for the bunkers to the state might go ahead, as well as the restrictions landowners might face were an underground defense facility to be situated on their property.

One resident, Margus, who lives near Misso and was at Friday's meeting, said it was still unclear whether defense facilities will be built on his land, though he was able to get a better understanding of the events at least.

"People asked some good questions and did get some answers. Many questions were noted down, and answers were promised for later, but I think that overall the mood was positive," he said.

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