After the construction of a 40-kilometer temporary barrier, the majority of Estonia's eastern border will be covered, Minister of Interior Kristian Jaani (Center) said on Thursday.

Jaani said Estonia has planned for several years to build a 115 km border fence. Construction was started in 2018 and so far 25 km has been constructed and work has already started on the next 39.5 km section.

"And if 40 kilometers of temporary barriers are added, we will have more than 100 km of physical borders, some of which are temporary," he said at the government's press conference on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the Defense Forces' regular snap exercise Okas was announced which called up 1,700 reservists. During the week-long exercise, the 40 km temporary razorwire barrier will be installed.

Jaani said this is a good example of large-scale national defense.

Estonia and Russia share a 294 km border that also runs through the middle of Lake Peipus, Europe's fifth-largest lake, which cannot be fenced off.

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