Estonia may restore territorial borders to benefit from pipeline
Estonia may restore the former borders of its territorial waters in order to dictate terms over the construction of a trans-Baltic natural gas pipeline, the country's media said Wednesday according to RIA Novosti.
The German-Russia Nord Stream pipeline is an ambitious international project designed to link the two countries via the Baltic seabed. The route of the pipeline was initially intended to run along the Finnish coast. However, following Finland's protests over the environmental threats the project might cause, the idea of altering the route towards the Estonian shelf has been under consideration, said the Estonian Postimees newspaper.
It was reported that Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet is preparing a letter to operator Nord Stream saying that Estonia could restore its 1990s territorial waters borders if the government agrees to seabed exploration in Estonia's commercial waters.
The Estonian government is expected to respond Thursday to the request for exploration permission that Nord Stream made on May 31.
In the early 1990s, Estonia and Finland agreed to reduce their territorial waters to improve security and simplify navigation in the Gulf of Finland.
Estonian authorities were quoted as saying that the pipeline construction would significantly hinder navigation and did not meet Estonia's economic interests under the current conditions. "Therefore, Estonia does not find it impossible to restore the [former] territorial regime," the draft letter says.
The document also says that building the pipeline in Estonia's commercial waters would lead to environmental risks and would consequently make it harder for the country to comply with its international environmental commitments.
Estonia also said it would be impossible to use the majority of its shelf for mineral production or scientific research if the project were implemented there.
According to the document, permission for the project operator to explore the seabed in Estonian commercial waters would not mean Estonia agreeing to construction in that segment of the sea without a separate agreement being reached.