European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday called the removal of Estonian buoys by Russian border guards on a river separating the Baltic country from Russia "unacceptable," and demanded an explanation from Moscow and the immediate return of the orange floating devices.

Early Thursday, Estonian border guards noticed that their Russian counterpart had removed 25 of the 50 buoys that Estonia had installed on the Narva River to prevent boats from accidentally crossing the border.

Borrell said the incident "is part of a broader pattern of provocative behavior and hybrid actions by Russia."

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Estonia also dubbed it "unacceptable," but said its response "remains calm and clear-eyed."

"We treat this as a provocative border incident," the Foreign Ministry in Tallinn said Thursday.

For decades, Estonia and Russia have installed buoys on the Narva River, with the towns of Narva on the Estonian side and Ivangorod on the Russian bank, largely in mutual agreement.

Every year, the marking of the shipping routes was rechecked because "the riverbed changes over time," said Eerik Purgel, the local Estonian Border Guard head. On May 13, the first 50 buoys were installed. However, 25 of them were removed by their Russian counterparts early in the morning 10 days later, he added.

But in 2023, "Russia does not agree with Estonia’s positions regarding the location of the buoys," Purgel said.

"We decided to release the floating marks into the water for the summer season according to a 2022 agreement, because they are necessary to avoid navigational errors, so that our fishermen and other hobbyists do not accidentally wander into Russian waters," he said.

Estonia's Foreign Ministry said the action "fits well within the broader pattern of Russia’s provocative behavior," and drew parallels to the border mapping incidents in the Baltic Sea earlier this week. According to media reports, Moscow could revise the borders of its territorial waters in the region.

The draft proposal was published on an official Russian government website for draft legislation but disappeared hours after it was posted on Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear why.

Russian media said the Defense Ministry in Moscow had suggested updating the coordinates used to measure the strip of territorial waters off its mainland coast and that of its islands in the Baltic Sea. The existing coordinates were approved in 1985, the ministry says, adding that they were "based on small-scale nautical navigation maps" and don’t correspond to the "modern geographical situation."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later said there was "nothing political" in the Defense Ministry’s proposal, and Russian news agencies said Moscow did not intend to revise the border or the width of its territorial waters.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Finland and Sweden have joined NATO, meaning that the Baltic Sea — Russia’s maritime point of access to the city of St. Petersburg and its Kaliningrad enclave — is now almost surrounded by members of the military alliance.

Hunter Biden will appear in court at noon on Friday in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, where he is on trial for federal gun charges — and he is asking the court to block prosecutors from discussing certain evidence. 

The court is meeting for its last hearing before jury selection begins on June 3. Fox News has previously reported that prosecutors plan to use portions of his book and laptop, including photos, to convince a jury that the first son is guilty of making false statements on a federal form when he purchased a revolver in 2018, while actively using narcotics. 

In court documents filed Friday morning, Biden's defense attorneys asked the court to block certain salacious details of his life from being shown to the jury to avoid "significant risk of unfair prejudice."

In what is called a "motion in limine," Biden asked the court "to exclude reference to the child support proceedings in Arkansas and reference to his discharge from the Navy." This is in reference to the child Biden fathered out-of-wedlock with ex-stripper Lunden Roberts, whose daughter is President Biden's grandchild. 

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Acknowledging that some of the evidence prosecutors wish to bring forward may be relevant to the case, including purported drug purchases, ATM withdrawals, and the purchase of the revolver, Biden's lawyers said other details like references to money allegedly spent on "adult entertainment, online chat rooms, or escort services are not relevant to the charges." 

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"Characterizing or referencing unnecessary salacious details — such as how much things cost, whether they are upscale, or citing expenses concerning collateral alleged sexual conduct unrelated to the charges here — are the exact type of prejudicial, inflammatory evidence that has a tendency to make a conviction more likely because it provokes an emotional response in the jury," the defense argued.

"Accordingly, Mr. Biden respectfully requests that this Court grant his Motion in limine to exclude any reference to an ‘extravagant’ or ‘lavish’ lifestyle during periods of his addiction." 

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Biden's legal team had earlier sought to delay the impending June 3 trial, which was set by a federal judge two months ago. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika rejected the request, and the trial will proceed on schedule.

 A 56-page indictment against Biden was handed down in Los Angeles in December. It included felony charges and laid out his salacious spending habits and lifestyle while cataloging alleged related tax violations.

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Special counsel attorney Derek Hines has said the trial will last less than a week.

Fox News' Charles Creitz contributed to this report.