The one-day visit to Estonia of Prime Minister Johnson and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is an important show of support for the country and for the eastern flank of the alliance, says President Karis. “Everyone, whether they want to or not, can see only too clearly that our allies stand shoulder to shoulder with us,” he said. “This is particularly important in the situation unfolding in the heart of Europe, with Putin waging a cruel and indeed criminal war against Ukraine and civilians dying as cities are shelled and bombed.”
The Estonian head of state stressed that in response to Putin’s actions in Ukraine, NATO must reinforce its presence along the alliance’s eastern flank, including in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, on land and in the air, and do so in a highly visible and credible way.
“The security picture not only of our region, but of Europe and the world, has changed radically due to Putin’s decision to wage war, and NATO, the United Kingdom and other allies are prepared to issue a swift and powerful response,” said President Karis. “The first additions to the British contingent have already arrived in Estonia, and more will be doing so in the coming days.”
President Karis says NATO will never consider a situation in which the Russian president and his inner circle unilaterally decide how other countries should be allowed to live to be the new normal. “Putin’s war against Ukraine is not something that democratic countries should just get used to, but a clear act of aggression and a crime that must be stopped,” he urged.
The Estonian head of state says that Putin has achieved an altogether different result to the one he was hoping for. “In attacking Ukraine he was looking to attack the West, to destabilise NATO and the democratic world, but his decision to wage war has only succeeded in making the alliance even stronger, and making both it and the rest of the western world more united,” he said.
