People stand in a queue to cross the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva crossing on December 15, 2024. In heavy snowfall and high winds, around 200 people wearing rain ponchos and fur hoods queued in the Estonian border town of Narva to cross into neighbouring Russia. (Photo by Marko Mumm / AFP)People stand in a queue to cross the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva crossing on December 15, 2024. In heavy snowfall and high winds, around 200 people wearing rain ponchos and fur hoods queued in the Estonian border town of Narva to cross into neighbouring Russia. Marko Mumm / AFP
She said she had received hateful messages and even death threats over the poster.
Smorzevskihh-Smirnova also faced backlash from local politicians who accused her of sowing divisions in the predominantly Russian-speaking community and called for removing her from the office.
There are not just wars of words across the border.
In May, Estonia said Russia removed border buoys from the Narva river, and a month earlier it blamed Russian hybrid activity for widespread GPS jamming that it said increased the threat of an aviation accident.
“It’s part of the electronic war that they are carrying out, and the impact is also to our territory,” Egert Belitsev, Director General of Estonian Police and Border Guard Board said.
– ‘A few madmen’ –
But even if tensions are simmering between the neighbours, life in the town of Narva is calm, mayor Jaan Toots told AFP in his office located right across the border crossing.
Toots added, however, that “a lot has changed” since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“We’re a border city and a border city always lives with the other side’s border,” Toots said, recalling how Narva residents used to go to Russia practically every day.
People stand in a queue to cross the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva crossing on December 15, 2024. In heavy snowfall and high winds, around 200 people wearing rain ponchos and fur hoods queued in the Estonian border town of Narva to cross into neighbouring Russia. (Photo by Marko Mumm / AFP)People stand in a queue to cross the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva crossing on December 15, 2024. In heavy snowfall and high winds, around 200 people wearing rain ponchos and fur hoods queued in the Estonian border town of Narva to cross into neighbouring Russia. Marko Mumm / AFP
Even now, “petrol is 300 percent cheaper there,” Toots said, explaining why Estonians still lined up to travel to Russia despite Estonian authorities’ recommendation to avoid crossing the border.
The lack of traffic from Russia has also taken an economic toll.
“On Friday, Saturday, Sunday there used to be many tourists in Narva – I think 23-25 percent of the monthly trade turnover came from Russian tourists. This is gone,” Toots said.
Asked about the poster unfurled on the wall of Narva’s fortress, Toots said the banner showed “what our Estonian people really think. That a terrorist is there on the other side.”
But he said he still hoped for reconciliation between the two sides.
“The nation in general isn’t to blame for what a few madmen in the Kremlin are doing.”
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=676a938013c3416f9d0dd729e3ed8a9a&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kyivpost.com%2Fpost%2F44395&c=451582201813876657&mkt=de-de
Author :
Publish date : 2024-12-24 01:07:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
