Tallinn Cannot Restrict Baltic Sea Navigation By Creating Adjacent Zone - Russian Diplomat

Creating an adjacent zone in the Gulf of Finland will still not allow Estonia to restrict freedom of navigation there, Russian Ambassador to Estonia Vladimir Lipayev said on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2023) Creating an adjacent zone in the Gulf of Finland will still not allow Estonia to restrict freedom of navigation there, Russian Ambassador to Estonia Vladimir Lipayev said on Tuesday.

Earlier this month, Estonian authorities announced that they were working on the introduction of an adjacent zone in the Gulf of Finland within 24 nautical miles of the country's territorial sea. Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said that the move would allow the country to monitor compliance with its legislation and boost safety, environmental protection and protection of valuable archaeological and historical objects found in the sea.

"Estonia has the right to establish an adjacent zone and add it to its territorial waters, but the fact is that the sovereignty of the state does not apply to the adjacent zone and it is not possible to restrict freedom of navigation in the adjacent zone," Lipayev told the Russian broadcaster Rossiya 24.

The diplomat added that the adjacent zone will only allow additional control over a vessel if it is suspected of violating the country's legislation.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia expects that maritime navigation in the Gulf of Finland will be guided by international maritime law, despite Estonia's plans to introduce the adjacent zone.