The Foreign Minister, Erkki Tuomioja, has demanded that the Kremlin immediately release an Estonian security officer who was allegedly abducted and taken across the border to Russia last week.
Moscow claim Eston Kohver was arrested on Russian territory on suspicion of being a spy. Kohver was said to be in possession of a handgun, 5,000 euros and documents relating to an intelligence mission.
But on Friday Tuomioja and his Nordic and Baltic counterparts issued a joint condemnation of the incident, claiming that Kohver was kidnapped on the Estonian side of the border, by agents of the Russian security services the FSB, the successor to the soviet KGB.
Estonia claim Kohver was arrested as he tried to stop a smuggling operation on the Estonia-Russian border.
“Eston Kohver was taken by force into Russia and is being held in Moscow. We call on Russia to immediately free Eston Kohver and return him safely to Estonia,” the foreign ministers’ statement said.
Russia says Kohver will be held in Moscow for around two months while it carries out an investigation into espionage claims.
The incident came two days after US President Barack Obama visited Tallinn and hinted at an American naval base being established in the country.