(Helsinki) Finland and Lithuania on Wednesday asked Russia to explain its plan to unilaterally modify its maritime border with the two countries, saying it could be a new act of “hybrid” war .
Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was “summoning a representative of the Russian Federation to obtain a full explanation.”
Lithuania expelled the Russian ambassador and reduced diplomatic relations with Moscow in April 2022, in response to atrocities committed in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen told reporters in Helsinki that she was “monitoring the situation.”
PHOTO JUSSI NUKARI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen
“We have no official information on what Russia is planning,” she added.
According to the draft decree initiated by the Russian Defense Ministry and unveiled on Tuesday, Moscow wants to expand its territorial waters by modifying its border with Finland and Lithuania in the Baltic Sea.
The redefinition of geographical coordinates would bring Finnish and Lithuanian areas under Russian control.
Russia’s borders in the western region of Kaliningrad and the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland would be changed, according to the document.
“The Kremlin has apparently denied it” in the meantime, but “in any case, it seems to be a new example of the perfidious way in which Putin is waging a hybrid war,” declared German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius for his part. currently visiting Lithuania.
“Spread fear”
“Uncertainty, provocation, relativization, opening a breach, threat – in short, the whole repertoire is visible again or at least suggested here,” he said according to statements provided by his ministry in Berlin.
“Russia is a member and party to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We only expect Russia to respect this convention,” the Finnish minister said.
“We must not forget that sowing confusion also means having a hybrid influence. Finland will not be disoriented,” she previously wrote on X.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis also denounced the Russian project.
“A new Russian hybrid operation is underway, this time in an attempt to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about their intentions in the Baltic Sea,” he wrote on X.
“This is an obvious escalation against NATO and the EU, which must be the subject of a firm and appropriate response,” added the minister.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, meanwhile, said the country’s ambassador to NATO had expressed concerns about Russian plans to allies.
According to him, this initiative could be part of a broader action by Russia against NATO.
“It is a flagrant violation of international law, not only when denouncing the treaty, but also when speaking or disseminating information of this nature,” he told the press.
Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who oversees the country’s foreign policy, told X that “Russia has not been in contact with Finland on this issue.”
The Russian Defense Ministry said the change, which is expected to come into force in January 2025, was necessary because geographic coordinates established at the end of the 20th century “do not fully correspond to the current geographic situation.”