One of the most time-consuming stages of border construction: Fences, surveillance, access roads etc., has proved to come with procurement processes.

The entire border is treated as a comprehensive project, developed under the name of the Eastern border project.

This project's budget is approximately €170 million, with the maximum possible amount of external funding being sourced from EU funds: So far, around €90 million has been spent, with around €11 million coming from external EU funds.

Construction is broadly divided into two main parts: The 135.6-kilometer southeastern land border, in a sparsely populated, heavily forested region, and the rest of the border from there northwards.

This much longer frontier follows watercourses, starting with the very northwesternmost tip of Pihkva järv, into Peipsi järv (Lake Peipus) via the interconnecting Lämmijärv, then bisects Peipsi Järv itself; the fifth largest lake in Europe, north of there tracing the Narva River, to its mouth on the Baltic. The river section includes the much wider Narva Reservoir, to the south of Narva city.

Merle Tikk, project manager at the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), told ERR: "The construction of the eastern border between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation is currently proceeding according to plan."

"Construction work is taking place both on the land border and along the Narva River. So far, approximately 60 kilometers of border infrastructure have been fully completed on the land border. At the same time, work continues on another 26 kilometers, and construction is expected to begin on an additional 20 kilometers in the spring," she added.

Tikk said one of the most time-consuming aspects of border construction is the procurement process.

She said: "Since this is a procurement related to defense and security, the process takes longer than usual, which also increases the overall duration of border construction."

"The border is being built holistically, meaning that the construction process takes in both border infrastructure and video surveillance capabilities. This technical aspect is already complex in and of itself. The procurement process makes it even more complicated still, as many procurement-related details are classified for internal use or, in certain cases, are covered under state secrets laws. This makes the process more complex and time-consuming than usual."

"All is carried out in accordance with the Public Procurement Act," Tikk went on.

Work is also adapted based on topographical conditions.

"The land border infrastructure consists of access roads, a patrol road, a deterrent fence, structures necessary for installing video surveillance equipment, and other elements. All these components are essential for the full functionality of the border infrastructure," Tikk said.

"The placing of these elements largely depends on the specific environmental conditions, which vary in each location. For example, in marshy areas, we have developed a pontoon road solution instead of a conventional patrol road, allowing patrol vehicles to move even in wet conditions," she added.

In areas where installing a deterrent fence is not feasible, alternative surveillance solutions have been used, Tikk said. "Environmental conditions dictate which border infrastructure and surveillance solution is suitable for each specific location."

"The only sections to remain without border infrastructure will come where natural barriers — such as rivers and lakes — already serve as a border and/or where constructing infrastructure would not be practical," Tikk said.

The process has been ongoing for several years now and across several government coalitions.

During this time, other changes have included tech advances and a worsening security situation.

"Today, we can confirm that the agreed scope of work will indeed be completed by the end of 2025. However, border construction has been a dynamic process — various governments over the years have added additional border sections to the project, and their development is still ongoing. Their construction is currently planned to be completed no later than the end of 2027,"Tikk continued.

The newly added border sections are in areas where land exchanges with the Russian Federation were previously planned, meaning no border infrastructure was initially intended there, such as in the famous Saatse Boot area.

With the changed geopolitical situation, no land swaps with Russia will now take place, meaning these areas will have to be secured with border infrastructure too. "There are two such areas under development, covering a total of 4.2 kilometers of the border. The plan is to start construction as soon as possible and complete these sections by the end of 2027," Tikk went on.

As for the rest of the border, the first section of the Narva River stretch was completed at the end of last year when new surveillance positions were established.

"Currently, construction work is underway on the second section of the Narva River border, which is planned to be completed in the first half of 2027, and during which nine new surveillance positions will be built," Tikk added.

Some border sections have been completed faster than the contractual deadlines, while others have taken longer than expected.

"In cooperation with our partners, we are constantly looking for ways to speed up the process. The work so far has progressed according to the current possibilities and conditions," Tikk added.

That the border infrastructure building was not started earlier than this as noted relates to the deteriorating security situation and budgetary constraints, but an added factor is that the 1920 Treaty of Tartu signed with the fledgling Soviet Russian state ran somewhat east of today's boundary to include the town of Petseri and its surrounding area in the southeast, and Jaanilinn, which lies directly opposite the river from Narva. Currently these areas are a part of the Russian Federation, which has not ratified the 1920 treaty.

Another unintentional side effect of land border fencing is that larger wildlife will no longer be able to wander across the frontier from the vastness of Russia into Estonia, or vice versa. This effect, the other way round, was observed in some western European nations at the end of the Cold War, when border fencing was taken down across the eastern bloc.

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