Estonia may strike Russian territory in event of threat of war with NATO - Chief of Staff
The Chief of the Joint Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces, Vahur Karus (photo: err.ee)
The new plan by the North Atlantic Alliance stipulates that, in the event of a Russian attack, Estonia has the right to strike back at the Russian territory, states the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces, Vahur Karus.
Major General Vahur Karus noted that, until recently, NATO’s defense plan required the Estonian army to hold off Russian forces on its own for around 10 days until help from Alliance members arrived.
However, according to him, the new NATO plan allows Estonia's military to strike and defeat Russian forces on Russian territory in the event of an attack on Estonia.
"This is a significant shift. It’s a change that the war in Ukraine has brought to many NATO allies. We can no longer wait to be hit like a sledgehammer, but we must be the first to act and have the ability to take certain measures," said Vahur Karus.
Threat of war between Russia and the Baltic states
On Wednesday, September 18, the defense ministers of Latvia, Poland, and Romania called on their NATO allies to immediately strengthen air defense measures on the Alliance's eastern flank.
In early September, a Russian drone crashed in eastern Latvia. According to military reports, it was a bomb-laden Shahed drone.
Russian drones also violated Romanian airspace. In both cases, the air forces did not attempt to shoot down the enemy targets.
Their military stated that they had directives from NATO command not to respond to such incidents.
Following these events, Lithuania’s Ministry of Defense urged for a change in the airspace patrol protocols over the Baltic States to allow for the downing of Russian missiles.
