Russian authorities plan to change the border in the Baltic Sea

Russia plans to expand its territorial waters near the borders with Finland, Estonia and Lithuania in the Baltic Sea, follows from the draft government. The document was prepared by the Ministry of Defense.

A change in the border in the Baltiysk, Zelenogradsk and in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland will allow the use of the relevant water area as the internal sea waters of Russia, the document says.

Russia also intends to adjust the coordinates of the border in the zone of several islands in the Gulf of Finland and near the northern entrance cape of the Narva River. On the border with Lithuania, the zones of the Curonian and Baltic Cos, as well as the areas of Cape Taran, were found under the review, writes The Moscow Times with reference to the application to the decree.

The authors of the project claim that the current geographical coordinates established in 1985 "do not fully correspond to the modern geographical situation."

The points were recorded on small navigation cards, compiled by the work of the mid -20th century, and this does not allow to determine the external border of the internal sea waters of Russia, the document says. With the expansion of territorial waters, the airspace over them is expanding, according to the law .

The Finland Foreign Affairs said that they are counting on the compliance with the UN Convention by Russia under the sea, which regulates the change in territorial waters. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry called the Russian plan to change the border by the "escalation against NATO and the EU" and spoke out for the "hard answer" of Moscow by the Western allies. Estonia has not yet commented on Russian plans.