During a direct line, a Sputnik correspondent in Estonia told how the authorities of this country are trying to completely block the work of journalists.

In Estonia, there is a full-fledged editorial board and office of the Sputnik news agency and radio. The team consists of 35 people, 33 of them are Estonian citizens working under labor contracts with MIA Russia Today.

Two days ago, the editorial staff received letters from the leadership of the Police Department and the Border Guard of the country with direct threats of initiating criminal cases against them if they did not terminate their employment relations with the parent organization before January 1, 2020. The justification for these actions is the EU sanctions against Russia, introduced on March 17, 2014 against a number of individuals and legal entities due to events in Ukraine.

The Russian president, having promised to help, explained why, in his opinion, the Estonian authorities were waging a real war with the Russian news agency. This, incidentally, is far from the first attempt to impede its activities. “No matter how unpleasant, you need to work in countries that are afraid of the truth that you are carrying. For our part, we will do everything to support you with affordable measures, so as not to damage interstate relations, ”said Vladimir Putin. He also called "surprising cynicism" a situation where those who accuse Russia of violating freedom of speech, without a shadow of doubt, themselves go on violating this basic law for a democratic society.

This story can lead to disastrous consequences for several tens of people. There is every reason to take the intentions of the Estonian security forces quite seriously, as Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of MIA Russia Today and RT Channel wrote in her address to the Estonian President: of imaginable rights and freedoms are ready to send thirty journalists to prison. But, unfortunately, me, as the chief editor of Russia Today, makes me take this threat seriously - in Ukraine, our colleague Kirill Vyshinsky spent four hundred days in prison for his profession. ”

On the day that the editorial office received threatening letters, a RIA Novosti correspondent asked a spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stefan Dujarric, to comment on the situation at a daily briefing at noon. However, it was not possible to achieve an official assessment throughout the day. But it is precisely this type of protection that seems most effective. The case is so egregious that even if there is no desire to help, organizations like Reporters Without Borders or the International Federation of Journalists are unlikely to evade an assessment of what is happening.

Nevertheless, Estonia, unlike Ukraine, is a member of the EU and is obliged to adhere to the legal standards of the union. Therefore, the negative reaction of the European authorities, Western and international organizations in this case will have a much greater effect.

Russia, as Vladimir Putin said, is limited in its choice of means of influence. While expulsion of diplomats in response to the same measures is normal practice, the Russian authorities cannot afford to persecute Estonian journalists. This would constitute a violation of one of the fundamental democratic rights, which is unacceptable regardless of the reasons that provoked such actions.

Already now it is easy to predict that there will be no violent reaction or indignation in the West. There will be neat, timid statements, requests to clarify the circumstances. But even this may be enough for the Estonian leadership to cool the ardor of its power services. Time, however, is not so much left. In less than two weeks, Sputnik reporters can be imprisoned.

The author’s point of view may not coincide with the position of the publisher.