Estonian security officer abducted on border with Russia

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/05/estonian-security-officer-abducted-border-russia

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An Estonian security officer has been abducted during an operation to stop an illegal crossing on the Russian border and taken at gunpoint across to Russia, Estonia's internal security service has said.

Estonia's foreign minister, Urmas Paet, said Tallinn had contacted Moscow about Friday's 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.

Let's not jump to conclusions, folks. Estonia extremely good at stopping organised crime & smuggling. Among best controlled borders in EU

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-Russia separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine.

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

On Wednesday, the US president, Barack Obama, visited Estonia on his way to a Nato summit in Wales, 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, saying preliminary information did not suggest there was any political motivation behind the abduction.

"This is a very disturbing incident," 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."

The Estonian president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, tweeted: "Let's not jump to conclusions, folks. Estonia extremely good at stopping organised crime and smuggling. Among best controlled borders in EU."