Germany accuses Russia of fueling tensions in Baltic region

By Oliver Towfigh Nia

BERLIN (AA) - Germany on Friday accused Russia of fueling tensions in the Baltic region.

“Russia is setting fire to the borders of the European Union,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock wrote on X.

“We stand shoulder to shoulder with our friends in Estonia, Finland & Lithuania, and do not accept this aggressive behavior,” she added, while reiterating her government’s solidarity with its allies in the Baltic region.

On Thursday night, Russia removed several markers in the Narva River bordering Estonia, which marks the borderline between the two neighboring countries and also the eastern external border of the EU and NATO.

According to the EU and NATO country's police and border protection authority, Russian officials took 24 of 50 buoys out of the water on Thursday night. They were placed ten days ago by Estonian authorities to mark the fairway and prevent navigation errors and unintentional border crossings by fishermen, for example.

On Thursday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the coordinates of the current border were approved in 1985 based on small-scale nautical charts and that the border had to be changed because it no longer corresponds to “the modern geographical situation,” The Moscow Times added.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there was “nothing political” in the proposal.

“You can see how tensions are escalating. The level of confrontation, particularly in the Baltic region, demands the necessary steps from our relevant agencies to ensure our security,” he added.

Earlier in the day, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry told media representatives in Berlin that Baerbock had coordinated closely with her counterparts in Poland and France when making her statement.

It is about a “completely unacceptable hybrid approach” by Russia. “We have often emphasized that Russia wants to wear down the EU with such actions,” the spokesperson said, adding his country opposed this.