Eesti-Vene piirileping Euroopa Liidu ja Venemaa suhete kontekstis

[Estonian-Russian Border Agreement in the Context of European Union-Russian Relations] The article tries to determine the role of the European Union (EU) in solving the dispute over the border agreement that has arisen between Estonia and Russia. The two countries signed the border agreement in May 2005. Shortly afterwards the Estonian Parliament ratified the agreement together with an explanatory clause pointing out the fact that the present Estonian-Russian border was established by the Soviet authorities after the Second World War by cutting off five per cent of Estonia’s 1920–1940 territory. The Estonian Parliament’s decision was regarded a violation of the already signed international agreement by Russia who consequently denounced its signature and froze the ratification process. Thus, the Estonian-Russian border agreement has remained unconcluded. The EU has maintained a rather low profile in this conflict by avoiding high level statements. All EU Presidencies since 2005 have considered the border dispute to be an issue of Estonian-Russian bilateral relations. In fact, neither Estonia nor Russia has managed to use the EU as a tool of political pressure. In 2007, Latvia and Russia signed a border agreement as well. This was followed by the ratification of the agreement in the Latvian Parliament. In case of Estonia and Russia there is a stalemate which apparently remains unsolved for the forthcoming years. Currently no clear exit strategies from the situation have been proposed.