Nordic, Baltic interior ministers: Strong external border is the fortification of freedom

TALLINN - The ministers responsible for internal security of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Sweden and Finland, stressed in a joint statement issued in Tallinn on Thursday that even after the end of the military activity against Ukraine, threats emanating from Russia to the internal security of the European Union will remain.

The ministers also consider it important to have a strong and deterrent drone capability on the EU's eastern border, spokespeople for the Estonian Interior Ministry said.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian citizens have participated and are still participating in the war against Ukraine, and men with military experience from there are likely to complement and strengthen Russian organized crime groups and thus pose a significant criminal threat to the EU, according to the seven ministers.

"Member states should take all necessary steps to ensure that persons who are or have been employed by the Russian armed forces or other armed groups acting on behalf of the regime are not allowed to undermine our security or move freely within the Schengen area. In particular, it is important to avoid granting residence permits or visas to those who have participated in the war of aggression against Ukraine," the ministers said, calling for the implementation of a visa ban on those who fought against Ukraine.

The ministers who gathered in Tallinn emphasize that the EU's land border remains particularly vulnerable to state-sponsored migration and that securing our external borders with adequate infrastructure requires greater support for political commitment.

Both organized crime networks and hostile states are increasingly using new technologies to achieve their goals.

"It is our shared responsibility to stay ahead of these threats," the ministers said, stressing the importance of continued investment in modern technological solutions for monitoring and protecting the EU's external borders. "A modern border guard infrastructure includes a robust and deterrent drone capability -- the ability to detect, track and disrupt drone activity that poses a threat to our border security. A comprehensive anti-drone system is needed at our borders."

According to the ministers, it is the task of EU member states as well as the entire community to strengthen their internal security, increase resilience to hybrid threats and the protection of critical infrastructure, and dismantle networks of terrorism, violent extremism and organized crime.

"The European Union, NATO and the Schengen area together form our common security space, and to protect it, we need unity and greater cooperation. A strong external border and our resilience are the fortification of our freedom," the ministers said in the joint statement adopted in Tallinn.

European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner and Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens are also in Tallinn to participate in the meeting.