“Depending on the particularities of the border zones, a fence is needed on some parts of the frontier to support the technical means of security, but this is only a small part of the total works related to the reconstruction of the eastern border,” Toomas Viks told Sputnik.
He underlined that Estonia's main priority is the creation of a technologically advanced border to curb trespassing and ensure rapid response times to incidents on the border.
“The goal of Estonia is to construct the most modern state border in Europe over the next four years,” Toomas Viks told Sputnik.
He said that the first stage would include clearing the border area of forest to provide border visibility. According to the spokesman, 80 kilometers of the 136-kilometer-long land border have already been cleared.
“The goal is to cover the land part of the eastern border with an integrated system of sensory devices and cameras backed by the drones,” Viks said.
“The information collected by the sensor system will be used as evidence in cases of border offenses – be it illegal border crossings, smuggling, people trafficking, or any other crime,” Viks explained.
Earlier this week, Estonian media reported that the country plans to build a 108-kilometer-long (67-mile) wall on the overland section of its border with Russia to deter trespassing. The total cost of the work is estimated at about 71 million euro ($81.6 million).
Another Baltic country, Latvia, also announced plans to beef up its border with Russia to prevent undocumented migrants from entering the European Union.