The Estonian–Russian border area is predominantly rural in character with a population of less than one million. The total length of the border is 460.6 km. of which 122 km runs through the Bay of Finland, 200.6 km through large surface water bodies (including Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe and the Narva River) and only 138 km on dry land. The major cities in the basin are Pskov (Russia) with 204,000 residents, Tartu (Estonia) with 98,000 and Narva (Estonia) with 70,000.
The Estonian–Russian border became part of the external border of the European Union in May 2004 and in December 2007 an external border of the EU Shengen zone – the passport-free travel area that encompasses 22 European states.
Today Estonian border checkpoints on the EU external border are fully modernised utilising high-tech equipment. A study conducted in seven EU Member States by the Stefan Batory Foundation (2008), has assessed the quality of service rendered by the border guard and customs services at external EU border checkpoints. The study concluded that the quality of work of border guard and customs officers, as well as the infrastructure of border control at Estonia's border points, was adequate. What was inadequate however was the infrastructure that could make the border crossing more convenient. Survey respondents claim that there are simply too few bars, cafes, public conveniences and parking lots.
These symbols of a closed border reflect the essence of the EUs security and border protection policy aimed at protecting Europe from external risks such illegal migration and crime. It also reflects the state of Estonian – Russian intergovernmental relations where, after the re-establishment of Estonian independence, many points of disagreement emerged on when and how the border was established as well as other questions relating to the general nature of bilateral relations.
Cross-border cooperation with Russia was historically an important source of economic development for Estonia's eastern peripheries. Before the beginning of the 1990s when the international border between Estonia and Russia was re-established, Estonian and Russian fishermen fished together across Lake Peipsi/Chudskoe which is shared by the two countries (the lake is the fourth largest in terms of its surface area in Europe).
Estonian farmers took their products to the markets in St. Petersburg when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, Russia imposed double taxes on Estonian goods exported to Russia. Initially due to the high taxes and expensive visas and latterly to economic instability on the Russian side, the cross-border trade decreased sharply.
As the main sources of income (agriculture and fishing) of people living in the Estonian eastern peripheries dried up, almost no new economic development activities emerged to replace them. As a result, most young people left to work not just to Tallinn, but in Norway, Finland or the UK; high unemployment and a poor infrastructure endowment thus remain major challenges to further economic development for the region.
Economic development policies in Estonia currently rely in the main on market forces while there are few mechanisms available to support development in economically disadvantaged regions; as a result, many shops, schools etc., were closed and public transportation routes discontinued in the peripheral areas of Estonia after the re-establishment of independence.
By Gulnara Roll