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The Estonian government on Wednesday called up 1,700 reservists for an unannounced exercise along the Russian border. Here they will, among other things, place a forty kilometer long barrier of barbed wire, reports Reuters news agency. The exercise is taking place as the migration crisis continues in Eastern Europe, particularly on the border between Poland and Belarus.
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Also read: Double crisis on eastern flank presents Europe with a challenge
The exercise will certainly last until November 25 and is intended to test the “reaction speed of the national chain of command”, the Estonian government said. Reinforcing infrastructure on the borders with neighboring Russia would be necessary ‘given the developments in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia’.
The situation on the border between Belarus and Poland remains tense. Migrants are flown in through Belarus and driven to the borders with the EU. In this way, according to the EU, President Alexander Lukashenko wants to force the lifting of sanctions against his regime, although he denies this himself. Lukashenko is said to be helped by Russia in his tactics, but the Kremlin also denies involvement.
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