Making foreign policy is a responsibility that cannot and must not be treated as if the world were a neutral space of ideas where all approaches are equally safe and without consequences. When messages begin to circulate in international media as supposedly representing Estonia’s positions, when in fact they do not reflect our shared agreements, we undermine our own credibility, writes Margus Tsahkna.
Nearly four years of ongoing aggression risks turning war news into background noise and constant warfare into something ordinary. So, it’s worth underscoring from the outset: Estonia’s eastern neighbor is waging the largest and deadliest full-scale war in Europe since World War II against its neighbor Ukraine.
What’s more, Russia is undermining our own security with an increasing number of acts of sabotage and other hybrid warfare tactics, while also preparing its military and infrastructure for a long-term confrontation with the entire Western world.
Keeping all of that in mind, it should be crystal clear that Estonia’s number one foreign policy priority must be countering Russian aggression and supporting Ukraine. Because if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, if redrawing borders by force is allowed and if Russia’s crimes go unpunished, then the very foundations of Estonia’s independence and sovereignty begin to wobble.
Jaak Aaviksoo’s claim that Estonian foreign policy has been “reduced to topical security policy, in simplified terms,” is, to put it mildly, a puzzling one, especially in a situation where existential questions about Estonia’s very survival are on the line.
Read more: ERR.EE
