Estonia may shut down its only remaining open border crossing with Russia in the city of Narva due to growing numbers of people attempting to cross into Russian territory, according to Interior Minister Igor Taro.
Speaking on Wednesday in response to a question from Aleksey Yevgrafov, a member of the Estonian Parliament and former mayor of Narva, Taro warned that the Narva-1 crossing may be closed entirely. The minister stated that the volume of people seeking to enter Russia was causing significant delays and long queues, especially since the closure of the city's second border crossing, Narva-2, in November 2022.
Taro also rejected the idea of reopening Narva-2, arguing that it would only increase traffic toward Russia and potentially overwhelm Estonian border authorities.
While the Estonian government claims that the border restrictions are part of broader sanctions enforcement against Russia, residents of Narva—and Russian officials—have accused Tallinn of targeting the city’s large ethnic Russian and Russian-speaking population.
According to Estonia’s 2021 census, Narva—Estonia’s third-largest city—is approximately 88% ethnic Russian. When including native Russian speakers, the number exceeds 90%. Nationwide, ethnic Russians account for nearly 25% of the population, while roughly 30% of Estonians speak Russian as their first language.
Estonia, along with fellow Baltic states Latvia and Lithuania, has faced criticism for implementing policies that disproportionately impact its Russian-speaking populations. Since 2022, these governments have tightened citizenship, language, and border laws following the outbreak of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In Estonia, laws now require Russian citizens to renounce their Russian passports in order to obtain permanent residence permits. Citizenship is only automatically granted to ethnic Russians who resided in Estonia prior to 1940—the year the Soviet Union annexed the country—or their descendants, leaving roughly 15% of Estonia’s post-Soviet Russian population as stateless individuals, commonly referred to as holders of "gray passports."
Estonia maintains that these laws are part of national security measures and efforts to reduce Russian influence, but critics argue they risk inflaming ethnic tensions in an already delicate region.