Russia’s defence ministry is proposing to unilaterally change the country’s border in the Baltic Sea, according to Politico.
A draft decree surfaced on Tuesday on the government’s legal portal. Russia wants to revise the existing border established in 1985 on the basis of obsolete nautical charts, according to the document.
The present border “does not allow the establishment of the external boundary of Russia’s internal waters.” Moreover, it “does not take into account the practice of establishing direct baselines by other states,” the decree reads.
The changes of the Baltic Sea borders will affect crews of maritime vessels, law enforcement officers and agencies working in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland.
The move, however, angered its neighbours. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia’s actions were “a threat to the security of neighbouring countries and Europe as a whole.”
Russia’s actions are seen as a deliberate, targeted, escalatory provocation to intimidate neighboring countries and their societies.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that there was no “contact” on the issue, with his team learning of the move from Russian media.
“Finland acts as always: calmly and based on facts.”
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže claimed she had contacted Finland, Lithuania, and other Nordic and Baltic countries to “clarify the situation.” Meanwhile, a number of Russian media outlets reported on Wednesday that Russia had no intention of changing the border.
There has been and is no plan to revise the width of territorial waters, the economic zone, continental shelf off the mainland or lines of Russia’s border in the Baltic.
Earlier on Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied that the border change was related to the confrontation between “Russia and the West.”
“No, there’s nothing political here, even though the political situation has changed since then [the time when the border was first established]. Look at the escalation of tension, the level of confrontation, especially in the Baltic region. Of course that requires our relevant agencies to take the necessary steps to ensure our security.”
