“The amendment of the State Borders Act is necessary so that the police can continue to do their work in situations where foreigners are used as a weapon in organising a hybrid attack, as we saw on the borders of Belarus and the European Union,” said Minister of the Interior Kristian Jaani. “Each state has the sovereign right to control the entry, stay, and exit of all persons who are not nationals of that state. We are also ready to fulfil our international obligations, including the obligation to provide international protection to those aliens who need it,” the Minister of the Interior noted.
In accordance with the amendment, the Police and Border Guard Board may refuse to accept an application for international protection of an alien who has entered the country illegally in an emergency and make them return without issuing a precept to leave or a decision to refuse entry. Persons can enter Estonia from the external border only through an open border crossing point.
The amendment also gives the Police and Border Guard Board the right to determine the places where aliens can submit applications for international protection.
In accordance with the draft legislation, the involvement of the Defence Forces and the Defence League in the protection of public and constitutional order will also be made more flexible if the resources of the Police and Border Guard Board prove to be insufficient. At present, the Defence Forces or the Defence League can be involved for a maximum of 30 days, but this does not correspond to the changed security situation, where the need for involvement may be longer.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland have been under artificial migratory pressure since the summer of 2021. In 2021, 8,267 third-country nationals entered the territory of Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland illegally from Belarus, of which 4,226 entered Lithuania, 446 Latvia, and 3,495 Poland. The countries have received 12,143 applications for international protection, of which 3,826 are for protection from Lithuania, 613 from Latvia, and 7,704 from Poland. A total of 48,445 attempts to enter the EU illegally have been blocked by the three countries. Most of the illegal arrivals were Iraqi citizens of Kurdish origin, and to a lesser extent, citizens of Afghanistan and Syria. During 2021, more than 10,949 people arrived in Germany via Poland. Due to the number of immigrants, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland declared an emergency situation. The European Union called it an attack on the EU as a whole.
The artificial migratory pressure in the region showed that the Estonian legal system must also be prepared to manage such a hybrid attack and ensure security in the event of mass immigration.
