The
EU has accused Belarus of flying in thousands of migrants from
the Middle East and Africa and pushing them to cross into EU and
NATO members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia in retaliation for
sanctions already imposed on Minsk. Belarus has denied
deliberately fomenting the crisis.
The EU neighbours of Belarus, which is a close Russian ally,
have warned that the crisis could lead to a military clash, and
have declared states of emergency and deployed military forces
near their borders.
Estonia has a similar geopolitical history to Lithuania and
Latvia, although it has no border with Belarus.
The snap exercise is scheduled to last until Nov. 25 and was
called to test rapid response of the national chain of command,
the Estonian government said.
The reserve solders will help install 40 km of razor wire in
places along Russian border, where risks of illegal crossings
are highest, Estonian police and border guard said in a
statement.
"What is happening in Poland, Lithuania and Latvia also requires
the strengthening of the border infrastructure in Estonia," said
chief of Police and Border Guard Elmar Vaher.
(Reporting by Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; Editing by Toby Chopra
and Peter Graff)
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