Authorities in Estonia are mulling what to do with a 45-year old Russian picked up drunk and wet after trying to evade guards by swimming illegally across the European Union and Schengen zone borders.
The man, identified only as Sergei, lost his passport while on a trip to Russia and was trying to get back to his home in Sillamae, a small town in north-eastern Estonia near the Russian border.
“Sergei chose a bizarre way to return home after he had lost his passport during his visit to Russia,” Aimar Koss, head border guard for north-eastern Estonia, said.
The Russian citizen will not face criminal charges but could be slapped with a fine for breaching the EU and Schengen zone borders, officials said.
Sodden and inebriated, Sergei was apprehended on the night of July 16 by Estonian border guards on the Narva River that separates Estonia and Russia. He admitted trying to swim illegally across the river.
A bridge spans the 150m of water that separates the Russian town of Ivangorod from the Estonian town of Narva on the far side of the river.
The vast majority of Narva’s 67 000-strong community are Russian-speakers and only half are Estonian citizens.
Many cross the border bridge daily to buy cheap alcohol and tobacco on the Russian side and do their shopping in Ivangorod.
The frontier became a Schengen border when 2004 EU member Estonia joined the European free travel zone in December 2007. — AFP