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Estonian security police say officer abducted on Russian border

World News

05-09-2014 | 11:26

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Estonian security police say officer abducted on Russian border

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An Estonian security officer was abducted during an operation to stop an illegal crossing on the Russian border on Friday and taken at gunpoint across to Russia, Estonia's Internal Security Service said.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said Tallinn had contacted Moscow about the incident on a border that in recent years has seen a number of incidents involving smuggling, illegal migration and weapons trafficking.

"He was captured using force at gunpoint. He was fulfilling his duties preventing cross-border criminal activity," a Security Service statement said. The unidentified abductors, at the Luhamaa checkpoint, had jammed radio communication and used a smoke grenade.

Estonia, an ex-Soviet state and member of the EU and NATO, has tense relations with Russia, which have deteriorated in recent months because of Russia's annexation of Crimea and a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

About a quarter of Estonia's population is made up of ethnic Russians.

On Wednesday, U.S. President Barack Obama visited Estonia on his way to a NATO summit to reassure it and the other two Baltic states, Lithuania and Latvia, of NATO's support.

Local media quoted the head of the security service Arnold Sinisalu as saying preliminary information did not suggest there was any political motivation behind the abduction.

"This is a very disturbing incident," Foreign Minister Paet said. "We expect to receive all manner of help and cooperation necessary from Russia in solving this case and bringing the Estonian citizen back to Estonia."

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves wrote on his Twitter account: "Let's not jump to conclusions, folks. Estonia extremely good at stopping organised crime and smuggling. Among best controlled borders in EU."

REUTERS

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