Fruitless labour: Estonia again demands from Russia to return part of Narva and Pechora

Sergey Kron

In Estonia, even the State Bank participates in the historical games, which surprised sensible people with its "numismatic dreams" by adding a piece of Russian land to its country. As a result of experiments with cartography, Tallinn issued a coin, on the reverse of which there is a map of Estonia depicting the Pechora region of the Pskov region and Ivangorod.

Põlluaas insists on the observance of the Treaty of Tartu, concluded between the parties in 1920. According to this document, the Estonian state was recognized as independent and independent. The RSFSR renounced all rights, including property rights. In turn, Estonia has undertaken obligations not to present any claims to Russia.

After the signing of the treaty, the state border and neutral zones with border troops were established between the countries. Values and archives evacuated during the First World War were returned to Estonia. After that, Russia and Estonia established diplomatic, consular, trade and economic relations.

In his keynote speech at the congress of the Conservative People's Party, where Põlluaas became the official presidential candidate in Estonia, he reiterated that there is no need to conclude a new border treaty between Estonia and Russia. According to him, in accordance with international law, both the Tartu Peace Treaty concluded 101 years ago and the state border indicated in it are valid.

“You can't play with our defenses, state security and independence. There is no need or reason to legitimize the criminal occupation of Pechora and the territories beyond Narva”, - said the Estonian politician.

The Russian side has repeatedly pointed out that the Tartu Peace Treaty is a historical document.

“Estonia, as a state that existed from 1918 to 1940, lost its status of a subject of international law as a result of joining the USSR, and the Treaty of Tartu lost its force, since both parties who signed it ended up in the same subject of international law with the USSR. In addition, it is not in the registry of existing international treaties of the UN", - said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Maria Zakharova to Novye Izvestia.

We were reminded that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet signed new treaties in Moscow on the Russian-Estonian state border and the delimitation of maritime spaces in the Narva and the Gulfs of Finland on February 18, 2014. They added provisions stating that the parties have no territorial claims to each other, and the treaties concern only the solution of border issues. The documents must be ratified by the parliaments of both states.

At one time - and this is also a documentary historical fact - for the lands of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia, Peter I paid the Swedish queen Ulrika Eleonora exactly two million rubles, at the current exchange rate - 350 billion dollars! In addition, if you remember that during the Soviet period, Russia completely rebuilt the infrastructure of the Baltic States, then the amount of debt will be much higher.

By the way, Estonia does not officially put forward territorial claims against Russia, since this was a condition for the country's admission to NATO.

The situation was commented on by Leonid Slutsky, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs:

“Põlluaasa's statements are more targeted at the internal audience in order to attract the electorate. But at the same time, such statements further and further postpone the prospects for ratifying the Russian-Estonian border treaty of 2014 and create additional tension in bilateral and inter-parliamentary cooperation".

“We view Estonia in all its guises - as a neighbor, as a people with whom we lived in the same state. We have a lot in common in history - and not only in Soviet history. We perceive Estonia as a member of the EU, OSCE, UN. Like any other state. And, of course, being neighbors, having so many interests in the economy, culture, humanitarian spheres, we are interested in the issues being resolved in a spirit of good neighborliness, on a legal basis, "said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference on the signing of a border agreement with Estonia in February 2014.