Estonian police not planning to tackle queue place selling at Narva border
Estonia's Interior Ministry and Police and Border Guard Board are aware that spots in the queue at Narva border crossing are being sold, but have no plans to change regulations. Minister recommends avoiding travel to Russia.
Summer tourism has led to significantly longer queues at the Narva border crossing, and reports of people selling their places in the line have drawn the attention of Estonia's Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) and the Ministry of the Interior. Minister of the Interior Igor Taro, responding to a parliamentary question from MP Aleksandr Tsaplõgin, said the authorities are aware of the practice, but are not planning to change how the queue is regulated.
According to Taro, the queue forms in a public space and there are no specific regulations governing it. The PPA monitors the situation from the standpoint of public order and safety, and police intervene when violations or conflicts arise. The minister said each report suggesting possible organized crime is assessed, and if concrete cases involve threats, extortion or other criminal activity, investigations are launched. However, it has not been established that a criminal group is involved.
Police figures cited by Taro show that in 2025 the police received 46 reports of queue places being sold at Peetri Square in Narva, while this year there have been 16 such reports. Reports of public order violations fell from 62 last year to 17 this year. Taro noted that not all of these are necessarily linked to the border queue. Over the past two years, seven offence reports were filed — two concerned criminal offences (theft or causing bodily injury), and five were misdemeanours, such as damaging another person's property, drinking in public, or disobeying or insulting officials.
No proceedings have been started specifically on the basis of reports about selling queue places, Taro added. In each case, Narva police resolved the situation by removing the sellers from the line.
Asked why there is no stationary police post or regular patrols near the border crossing, the minister replied that the law does not task police with organising pedestrian queues in public spaces. Police are responsible for maintaining public order, and patrols are deployed on a risk-based basis where threats are greater. Maintaining a permanent police presence wherever a queue forms is neither practical nor proportionate, he said, urging people to call 112 in case of conflicts or threats of violence.
Taro also said he supports the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' recommendation and advised people to avoid travelling to Russia altogether.
