The Impact of the EU Integration Process on the Border Disputes between Russia and Estonia

Even if EU’s integration process has helped to transform borders conflicts and tensions in Europe towards a more peaceful condition, having a positive effect on border disputes transformation, this effect is far from automatic. The same EU’s concept of political integration, based on a rigorous system of inclusion and exclusion, defined by full membership status and by fortified external borders, is an instrument of an old conception of territoriality. As many case-studies demonstrate, there are circumstances in which the impact of EU’s integration process hinders cross-border cooperation and causes new border disputes, exacerbating old contrasts. This is the case of the Estonian-Russian border. In fact, after the Estonia’s return to political independence in 1991 the question of its eastern border became critical. The formal conclusion of a border treaty is still pending and the implications in terms of identity are complicated especially because of the presence of a large number of inhabitants of mixed nationalities and languages. Despite the fact that some agreements has been reached, border disputes and tensions in the Estonian-Russian case are still on the agenda.