Press
Russia would like to make changes to its maritime borders with Finland and Lithuania. This decision could have far-reaching geopolitical consequences.
Kaliningrad – Russia is planning to expand its territory, this time in the Baltic Sea. As the Moscow Times reports, the country has unilaterally decided to change the maritime borders with Finland and Lithuania in its favor. The Russian government intends to declare parts of the Gulf of Finland and areas near Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in the Kaliningrad region as Russian inland waters by moving the coordinates. However, a corresponding statement on the website of the Ministry of Defense in Moscow has already disappeared again Radio Liberty reported.
The current base points, the Russian government says, are based on an outdated 1985 Soviet Cabinet decision. The Russian Defense Ministry statement said that “small-scale maps” from the 20th century were used at the time. This appears to be sufficient reason for the ministry to “declare invalid” the regulation. Finland’s Foreign Ministry has commented on the alleged plans and stressed that it expects Russia to comply with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Lithuania spoke of a provocation, while Estonia assumed that Moscow wanted to “cause confusion”.
Russia moves borders with Finland and Lithuania
The planned shift in borders specifically affects the coordinates on the Finnish islands of Maly Tyuters, Vigrund, Yagry, Sommers, Hogland, Rodsher and at the entrance cape of the Narva River. These are to be “adjusted”, as the Ministry of Defense put it. In Lithuania, it affects the areas on the Curonian Spit in the Bay of Gdansk as well as the Baltic Spit and Cape Taran.
Along with the document on the border shift, the ministry presented a plan that discusses the start of “exercises on the use of tactical nuclear weapons.” It is reported that these exercises have already begun with aircraft equipped with Iskander and Kinzhal missiles. The goal is to train staff.
Baltic states targeted by Russia
Since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, there has been speculation as to whether President Putin could also target the Baltic states. Vadym Skibitskyi, a representative of the Ukrainian defense intelligence service, suspects that the Baltics could play a role for Europe in the Ukraine war, as reported by the Ukrainian media RBC-Ukraine. Skibitskyi predicts that “the Russians will take the Baltics in seven days become. The response time of the NATO is ten days”. (liz)
#Russia #move #borders #neighbors