Estonian, Russian foreign ministries to schedule signing of new border treaties - Tallinn
TALLINN. Oct 8 (Interfax) - The foreign ministries of Estonia and Russia have to schedule the signing of new bilateral border treaties, the Estonian Foreign Ministry said.
"Both Estonia and Russia have taken steps to coordinate [the documents] and the two foreign ministries will now set the date for their signing," the Estonian Foreign Ministry press service told Interfax. Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the government's decision to sign the treaties on the Russian-Estonian border and the delimitation of territorial waters in Narva Bay and the Gulf of Finland with Estonia.
The signed treaties will be submitted to the Estonian and Russian parliaments for ratification.
Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov signed previous treaties on the land and maritime borders in Moscow in May 2005. But the Estonian parliament added a preamble to the law on the ratification of the treaties, saying that the 1920 Tartu Pace Treaty remains in effect. Under the Tartu Peace Treaty the Russian Federation was the first to recognize Estonia's independence, and to define the prewar border. Russia sees the Tartu Peace Treaty only as a historical document and the Estonian parliament's decision as an attempt to lodge territorial claims. Therefore it recalled its signatures from the treaties.
The Estonian-Russian consultations on a new border treaty began in late 2012. Three rounds have been held. After the third round, which took place on May 8, the Estonian parliamentary commission for foreign affairs announced that work on the new treaty was over. On May 23, the Estonian government approved the drafts and instructed Paet to sign them.
