Estonia gets 32 million euros for border drone surveillance

Estonia will receive 32 million euros from the European Union to strengthen drone surveillance along its eastern border, ERR reported, citing Interior Minister Igor Taro.

Taro said at a government press conference on Thursday that the funding had been confirmed the previous week. Estonia has allocated four million euros next year for other eastern-border infrastructure, while 32 million euros will go to counter-drone measures, he said.

Taro also said migration pressure from Belarus had increased tenfold this year. Estonia had caught 406 people by October 20 after they travelled illegally from the Latvia-Belarus border area, compared with 39 during the whole of last year.

Despite the increased workload for the Police and Border Guard Board, Taro said there was no reason to describe the situation as a migration crisis. He said emergency plans were designed for much larger numbers and included reserve resources.

Nearly 50 patrols are assigned to migration-related work each day, Taro said. Police officers have worked more than 8,000 hours of overtime, and Estonia has returned 134 people caught crossing illegally to Latvia. More people are awaiting return, he added.

Attempts to cross illegally at the Latvia-Belarus border have fallen over the past three weeks, from 340 thwarted attempts to 122, according to Taro. He said the threat had not passed and Estonia needed to maintain a high level of readiness.