Estonian people have no reason to sit around in a panicked state expecting war, said Aivar Riisalu, a member of the Estonian home guard’s board, and International Centre for Defence and Security research fellow Kalev Stoicescu on Estonian Public Broadcasting’s “Terevisioon” morning talk show.
Estonian people have no reason to sit around in a panicked state expecting war, said Aivar Riisalu, a member of the Estonian home guard’s board, and International Centre for Defence and Security research fellow Kalev Stoicescu on Estonian Public Broadcasting’s “Terevisioon” morning talk show.
Stoicescu said people should remain calm, let government departments do their work and be prepared for any eventuality.
He noted that Estonia’s defensive capability is as good as it can be and investment has been sufficient. Commenting on an assertion that Russia could ready for battle against the EU’s eastern periphery in just four hours, the analyst said the deterrent factor was the most important, keeping Russia from undertaking any “ugly” action against Estonian territorial integrity, including threats of force or outright attack.
“Here it’s the allied presence that is the primary deterrent factor, which the president also referred to,” said Stoicescu.
NATO presence in Estonia has visibly grown, Stoicescu said, especially through training. The research fellow said that this was due to the events in Ukraine, which would remain a key indicator as to whether presence would be increased or not.
See more: ERR (in Estonian)