Sea border | Savolainen of the Hybrid Expertise Center: The change planned by Russia can be practical

European network director of the hybrid competence center Jukka Savolainen says that the maritime border change planned by Russia should be approached without provocation until more is known about the matter.

“I cannot advise the authorities and the government because they may have other information. But based on what I’ve seen in public, now we can just wait for the facts, and there’s no need to get nervous,” says Savolainen.

He emphasizes that there is still little detailed information about the situation, and it is therefore difficult to comment.

“In an extreme case, some kind of carnivalization related to international maritime law and borders is starting, which will challenge the entire UN Convention on the Law of the Sea system, because this kind of thing is seen in the Far East,” says Savolainen.

He refers to a situation where completely exaggerated claims would be presented. Something like this is already happening in the South China Sea, Savolainen points out.

However, according to him, there are no signs of this at this stage.

“In the other extreme case, this is a completely changing perspective made possible by the Convention on the Law of the Sea,” says Savolainen.

of the UN the Convention on the Law of the Sea determines how the boundaries of different maritime areas are drawn.

According to Savolainen, the determination of the boundaries starts from a baseline drawn with certain criteria, which is drawn through the outermost rocks on the surface of the water.

Simplifying, it could be, for example, that as a result of land uplift, an islet in the Baltic Sea has permanently risen above the mean water line, he estimates. In that case, it would be a justified demand.

“So it could be that this is a factual announcement that fits well within the scope of the Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

If this is the case, years of negotiations between the states would follow. According to Savolainen, we now need accurate information about what exactly Russia is announcing.

“One thing that would seem pretty certain is that the actual sea border between Finland and Russia – where the territorial waters within the kingdoms of Finland and Russia are facing each other – is unlikely to be subject to any demands, because it was agreed upon in very precise coordinates in 2017,” says Savolainen. .

from Savoia was invited to the defense committee of the parliament on Wednesday for a hearing regarding the sea border issue.

He does not want to take a position on what Russia’s intentions are and whether it is some kind of hybrid influence.

“At this point, you have to completely refrain from being provoked into anything, until you see that demand,” he says.

However, Savolainen says that one of Russia’s purposes may be to test how wild comments about Finland are given in relation to the matter and, in other words, whether they can be used as a propaganda weapon against Finland.

“If their process is fully compliant with this UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, then all these threats will be completely on our hands.”

Russian possible intention to unilaterally change its definition The sea border between Finland and Lithuania became known through the Russian media. The information is based on the draft of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

The Ministry naturally justifies that the sea charts of 1985 would not be completely accurate and do not correspond to the “current geographical situation”.

Savolainen does not want to assess at this stage what all the risks Russia’s demands may cause.

“I recognize one risk and that is that Russia is in a very factual process and we are provoked into making wild statements that can be used in Russian propaganda against us and Estonia.”

Correction 22.5. 4:05 p.m.: Jukka Savolainen was previously mistakenly referred to in the caption as the director of the European Hybrid Competence Center. He works in the hybrid competence center as a network manager.