Iceland reacts to Russia's provocations against Western neighbours in Baltic States

In response to Russia's provocative actions this week, Iceland declared its support for the Baltic nations and Finland. Source: THordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir, Icelandic Foreign Minister, on Twitter (X), as reported by European Pravda Quote: "We stand firmly with our Nordic Baltic friends and allies, - Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania, - against Russia's provocative behaviour in the Baltic," said THordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir.

We stand firmly with our Nordic Baltic friends and allies ?????? against Russia's provocative behaviour in the Baltic.

-- THordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir?? (@thordiskolbrun) May 24, 2024

On Tuesday, a draft law was noticed on the Russian government's website indicating the country's intentions to declare some of the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland as its internal waters, as well as near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenogradsk in Kaliningrad Oblast.

After wide-scale publicity, the draft law disappeared from the site. On Thursday 24 May, it was reported that Russian border guards removed buoys marking the navigable channel from Estonian waters on the Narva River, which are restored every spring. Due to the incident, Russia's charge d'affaires in Estonia was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.

Over the last 24 hours, a number of individual European countries have expressed solidarity for the Baltic countries and Finland, and the EU has replied with a statement on behalf of the bloc, asking explanations from Russia regarding its activities on the Narva River. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke via phone with Estonia's Prime Minister. The Finnish Prime Minister said that Russia was testing NATO with its actions.

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