Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, about 1,091 Ukrainian refugees have been denied entry to the European Union through Estonia.
According to Estonian authorities, last month alone, 306 Ukrainians were prohibited to enter Estonia which is three times more than during the first three months of the war, SchengenVisaInfo reports.
Commenting on these data, the head of the Estonian Control Department, Egert Belitsev, said that since February 24, about 109,000 Ukrainian citizens have entered Estonia.
“One of the reasons for not letting a person into the country could be endangering public order or national security,” he pointed out in this regard.
As Belitsev explains, the people who are denied entry include those who have lived and worked in Russia for a long time and who do not come to Estonia as refugees, but rather as tourists or to visit relatives or friends.
In addition, the ambassador of Estonia in Ukraine, Kaimo Kuusk, emphasized that Estonia does not allow all people to enter the country who claim to be Ukrainians.
However, on October 5, Estonia warned that it was preparing to accept more refugees coming from Ukraine in the coming weeks.
Estonian authorities have also revealed that through the nearby Luhamaa and Koidula crossing, around 500-600 Ukrainian refugees cross into Estonia every day. At the same time, they wait up to five days in the wild, with minimal shelter and food, to leave Russia.
Considering that Estonia has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, it also advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Russia, unless absolutely necessary.
As a result, the Estonian Foreign Ministry asked Estonian citizens to also avoid traveling to areas bordering Ukraine.
Moreover, at the beginning of last month, Estonia decided to ban the entry of most Russian citizens into its territory. Thus, immediately after this decision, on September 19, the Estonian authorities reported that ten Russian citizens were refused entry to Estonia.
Estonia is refusing entry to the country even for those Russian citizens who have dual citizenship in cases where one of the two citizenships is Russian.
According to Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR), the Police and Border Guard Board has already confirmed that dual Russian citizens are being prevented from entering the country on Schengen visas.
On September 26, a Russian citizen attempted to illegally cross the Estonian border at the mouth of the Narva River. Border guards in Narva-Jõesuu also revealed that the 38-year-old was detained on the same date and then returned to Russia on the same day at 14:00.