Facing Russia threat, Estonia already exceeds NATO defense target
Photo: Estonia’s defense spending reaches 5% of GDP amid threat from Russia (facebook.com sodurileht)
Estonia is preparing for possible provocations and military actions from Russia — and is already spending more on defense than NATO requires, according to the RBC-Ukraine article “Europe's risk zone: Which countries are prepared to deter Russian aggression.”
Deterrence as a priority
According to Liisa Tagel, media adviser at Estonia’s Ministry of Defense Strategic Communications Department, the country’s main task is to ensure deterrence strong enough to make Russia’s military goals unattainable.
“That is also why there is a strong consensus in Estonia that defense spending at five percent of GDP is necessary,” she explained.
Estonia has already met NATO’s target
At the NATO summit in The Hague, member states agreed to increase defense spending to at least 5% of GDP by 2035. Estonia has already reached this level.
“In terms of collective defense, the main focus is on rehearsing defense plans with allied units,” Tagel noted.
As previously reported, Estonia’s Ministry of Defense has revealed Russia’s plans to split unity within NATO countries.
Tallinn has recorded targeted information operations aimed at undermining social cohesion.
Meanwhile, Russia attempted to play the so-called Narva republic card — testing NATO’s reaction to a potential detachment of part of Estonia’s territory under the pretext of protecting “Russian-speaking populations.”
In addition, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu recently threatened Finland and the Baltic states with a “right to self-defense” over drone flights above their territory.
Tallinn has blamed Russia and its electronic warfare systems for such incidents.
