Estonia wants to complicate navigation in the Gulf of Finland for Russia

Latvia, following Estonia and in solidarity with it, announced that it would lower the level of diplomatic relations with Russia. This was announced on January 23 by Latvian Foreign Minister Edgar Rinkevich. On January 23, the Russian ambassador was ordered to leave Estonia until February 7. Prior to that, Russia had expelled Estonian Ambassador Margus Laidre. The reason was the requirement of Tallinn on January 11 to radically reduce the composition of the diplomatic mission. There has been no political dialogue between Russia and the Baltic countries for many years, so now the form is being brought into line with the content, says Alexander Nosovich, editor-in-chief of the analytical portal RuBaltic.ru.

At the same time, the escalation in the Baltic direction has been taking place since the beginning of the year. The Estonian government is now working on a legal position on an additional coastal “contiguous zone” in the Gulf of Finland within 24 nautical miles (44.4 km) of the country’s territorial sea baseline (12 miles), Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said on January 17 (quoted by ERR ). “The introduction of the contiguous zone would allow Estonia to monitor compliance with its legal regulations regarding customs and tax issues, immigration issues, sanitary issues, as well as the protection of archaeological objects,” said Christie Land, head of the international law bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

At the same time, the maritime boundaries of Estonia and Finland, located on the northern coast of the Gulf, are established in such a way that in some areas only a three-mile corridor of international waters remains between them. Complications with the navigation regime in the Gulf of Finland are not obvious for Russia and depend, among other things, on the position of Helsinki, says Sergei Glandin, partner at the NSP law firm and an expert in international law. Based on the current state of regulation of navigation in the Gulf, Finland, unlike other Baltic states, did not declare a desire to establish an adjacent zone, reminds Glandin. The space outside the 12-mile zone of the territorial sea is not the water area of ​​the state, but the space under its jurisdiction, where the country’s ships can ply – border, customs, where the state can exercise control to protect the 12-mile belt itself, explains Glandin.

In theory, Estonia can, by its domestic act, declare this belt between it and Finland its contiguous zone, station its ships there, the expert says. But Tallinn will not be able to completely limit shipping for Russia with such a step if Finland protests. In addition, the role of custom in international maritime law is high: since 1991, a corresponding corridor has been established in the Gulf of Finland, where ships can freely sail to St. Petersburg and back, the lawyer notes. There must be very good reasons for abandoning this custom, Glandin emphasizes.

Finally, the essence of the contiguous zone is control over ships that go to the ports directly of the country that announced it, namely Estonia, and not past, the expert continues. It is impossible on the basis of this zone to violate the custom and restrict the freedom of navigation, concludes Glandin.