Russia remains a serious military threat to NATO, and the Estonian head of state says that the alliance must take that threat seriously. As such, he says there is a need to boost NATO’s defence ambitions prior to its summit in Vilnius in July. “We and all of our allies must increase our defence spending, complete work to reinforce NATO’s defence and deterrence capabilities and bring Finland and Sweden on board as new members of the alliance,” he advised.
President Karis says the alliance should already be turning its thoughts to and discussing Europe’s post-war security architecture. “If we want to ensure long-term peace in Europe, our aim must be clear and unequivocal: not a single ‘grey zone’ close to Russia’s borders and not a single area whose security status is unspecified, because it is just those sorts of areas that are sources of instability in the region,” he cautioned. “Ukraine must be the starting point of that discussion, since it has explicitly expressed its desire to join NATO. Its pathway to membership should be outlined at the summit in Vilnius.”
President Karis mentioned another vital objective which must follow in the wake of Russia’s war of aggression. “We must reinstate the authority of international law,” he said. “Future relations with Russia can only be discussed on that basis, and only once it has been brought to justice for its war crimes and aggression.”
The Estonian head of state supported boosting assistance of every kind for Ukraine so that the country can defend itself against the Russian onslaught and beat the aggressor back from its borders. “Russia doubts that Ukraine has the West’s long-term support,” he added. “We can and must show them that they are wrong. At this critical juncture we must do much more to assist the Ukrainians. The West’s resolution to not allow Russia to redraw Europe’s geographical lines is being observed by other major powers around the world. NATO has the opportunity and indeed the duty to make history here. If it fails to do so, the alliance itself will become history.”
President Karis added that Russia is expected to ramp up pressure in the coming months for peace negotiations. “But peace which does not drive Russia out of Ukraine will simply embolden the aggressor to regroup and attack again,” he cautioned. “This would mean that any peace achieved in Europe would not be a lasting one.”
In their meeting with President Biden and Secretary General Stoltenberg in the Polish capital, the leaders of NATO’s eastern flank focussed on multifaceted support for Ukraine. They also spoke about transatlantic security, including the reinforcement of deterrence on the alliance’s eastern flank, and preparations for the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
The Bucharest Nine format, which unites the countries on NATO’s eastern flank, includes Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
