Michal asks officials to prepare for possible border closure

Prime Minister Kristen Michal has asked Estonia’s interior minister and the State Chancellery to prepare the steps needed to close the border with Russia, ERR reported. He said he had discussed the possibility with Interior Minister Igor Taro.

Michal made the remarks after an attempted attack on defence company Threod Systems. He said the incident showed the importance of cooperation between the state and businesses, as well as heightened preparedness while the threat of sabotage in Europe remains elevated.

“If Russia continues its hybrid operations in Estonia, and we know that Russian special services use border crossings to exert influence over people, we must be ready to reduce our risks,” Michal said. Closing the border, he added, would reduce the danger to people in Estonia and make clear that attacks on the country’s defence industry and capabilities are unacceptable.

Michal said he had called a meeting of the government’s security committee to review the latest incident, the threat of sabotage from Russia and possible next steps.

An attempt was made on Saturday night to attack Threod Systems’ building in Viimsi, with the aim of causing an explosion and setting the building on fire. No one was injured, and the company’s production and delivery capacity was not affected.

The Estonian Internal Security Service and the Police and Border Guard Board detained eight suspects. Prosecutors have asked a court to remand five of them in custody. The security service believes the attempted attack was commissioned by Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. The suspects are residents of Latvia, and Estonian authorities are cooperating with Latvia’s VDD security service and prosecutors.

Michal said defence companies had been warned and given security advice before and after Russian special services’ sabotage of Milrem. Threod Systems followed the recommendations. In September, the security service said an arson attack on Milrem Robotics in August had been commissioned by Russian special services.

Michal said Russia wanted to make people afraid and hesitant and weaken support for Ukraine. Estonia’s response, he said, would be to strengthen security, deepen cooperation with companies and allies, increase pressure on Russia and continue supporting Ukraine.