Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu called for the expansion of the Baltic Republic’s military cooperation with the United States during a meeting with US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien. This is stated in the statement of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published on the website of the foreign ministry.

“We would like to increase cooperation with the United States in the field of security and defense, and this was said yesterday in our joint statement with Mike Pompeo, which emphasizes our desire for collective defense and strengthening transatlantic relations,” Rainsalu said.

In a conversation with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Reinsalu emphasized that “the main directions of Estonian foreign policy include strengthening relations with the United States and strengthening NATO”, as well as “promoting further cooperation” between the EU and Washington.

“Given the changing situation in the world, the unique transatlantic link between the United States and Europe is the strongest support for our security and the protection of our values,” the Estonian Foreign Ministry quoted the minister as saying.

At the same time, Reinsalu emphasized that the Estonian side “appreciates Washington’s decision to deploy troops in Poland,” because it is convinced that the United States must be required to protect Europe.

Almost simultaneously with Tallinn, the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, Raimundas Karoblis, spoke about the need to strengthen NATO's presence in the Baltic countries. During a joint press conference with his German counterpart, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, he said that NATO must fulfill its obligations and ensure the air defense of the alliance battalion stationed in Lithuania.

Statements by Reinsalu and Karoblis testify to the concern of the Baltic countries that the US began to “turn away from them in the direction of their Polish counterparts,” said American Sudakov, corresponding member of the Academy of Military Sciences.

“Therefore, Tallinn and Vilnius have now intensified their interaction with the United States - Estonians and Lithuanians are asking, literally begging the White House to return to the policy pursued by Barack Obama when the Baltic countries had more preferences,” the expert explained in a conversation with RT.

  • Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu
  • AFP
  • © RAIGO PAJULA

According to Sudakov, Estonia and Lithuania want to receive funding from the United States, and therefore make statements on expanding military cooperation with the American side.

“In fact, they say they are ready for contacts of any intensity in this area, because countries urgently need money,” the expert is convinced.

According to Sudakov, Estonia and Lithuania are not key allies for the White House.

“In Eastern Europe, the United States has relied on Poland, believing that it is their priority partner. Washington is now adhering to a strategy according to which the Allies must bring something to the joint security system. Washington realized that the United States is giving much more than it is receiving. Estonia and Lithuania declare their willingness to pay money, but these amounts are extremely small for the White House, ”the analyst explained.

At the same time, Washington is “flirting with the Baltic countries,” on the one hand, endorsing their anti-Russian attitude, and on the other, demanding large investments in NATO’s defense budget, Sudakov emphasized.

“The White House is not ready to lend to Tallinn and Vilnius,” the expert said.

As for the third Baltic republic, back in October last year, the Latvian Ministry of Defense announced plans to increase the number of foreign military contingents on its territory.

Currently, about 1,400 military personnel from other countries are serving in the Baltic state. In particular, in the Latvian town of Adazi, a battalion multinational group is stationed under the command of Canada.

In July 2018, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Latvia to announce the expansion of NATO's mission in the republic. According to him, Canadian troops will remain in Latvian territory until March 2023, and the number of Canadian troops will be increased from 455 to 540.

"Create a fist of Russophobia"

According to the information posted on the website of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, after meeting with the US Secretary of State, Reinsalu spoke at a round table organized by the Heritage Foundation's analytical center on Russian issues. In his speech, the Estonian Foreign Minister emphasized that only “working together and strengthening transatlantic ties” can guarantee that “Western democracy will survive in the 21st century and remain successful in the distant future.”

Recall, Heritage Foundation - an American neoconservative analytical center associated with the defense industry of the United States. The structure at one time actively participated in promoting the war in Iraq, and later in building up US military operations, including in Syria and Libya.

Heritage Foundation has repeatedly made anti-Russian statements. Back in 2016, the center called Russia the main threat to the United States. And at the end of August this year, Heritage Foundation experts announced the dangers of the Russian Pantsir complexes for US Army aviation.

  • American neoconservative analytical center Heritage Foundation
  • © heritage.org

According to Sergei Sudakov, the Heritage Foundation is an organization trying to “create a fist of Russophobia” in the world.

“At the same time, the speech of the head of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Heritage Foundation round table, which was devoted to Russia, is only a small part of the plan to form a ring of fear around the Russian Federation, including stories about those threats that come from“ treacherous Russia, ”the expert noted.

Sudakov emphasized that the phrase “Russians are coming” has become the leitmotif of the Baltic countries, which repeat these words with enviable regularity.

“Estonia is doing this, trying at all costs to attract Washington’s attention and show how it learned to act in an anti-Russian manner,” the analyst said.

"In a state of military psychosis"

According to experts, all three Baltic countries have long sought to strengthen cooperation with NATO. Numerous exercises of the North Atlantic Alliance are held on the territory of these states. So, at the end of September, about a thousand military personnel from the bloc countries within the framework of the Silver Arrow maneuvers worked out the actions of air gunners in the Latvian territory.

“This week, advanced air gunners from Canada, Italy, Latvia, Slovenia and Spain trained at the Adazi base,” the NATO website says.

It is also noted that the military during the maneuvers performed a specific task - the adjustment of ground targets for combat aircraft.

Prior to this, the Minister of Defense of Lithuania Raimundas Karoblis said that the armored battalion of the US Army will be deployed in the republic for the next six months. The corresponding statement was published on the website of the Defense Ministry of the Baltic Republic. According to the head of the Lithuanian Defense Ministry, the presence of the US military is the most important “deterrence factor” in the Baltic states.

In addition, Lithuania has been trying for a long time to modernize its defense equipment. So, back in 2017, Vilnius purchased medium-range Norwegian anti-aircraft missile systems for € 110 million and hopes to get several more air defense systems in the near future.

According to Sergei Sudakov, the number of NATO exercises in the Baltics will only increase, and the countries of the region will not prevent this, but, on the contrary, will advocate for full-scale cooperation, trying to overtake Poland.

“Before the 2020 elections in the United States, it is very important for the Baltic countries to come to certain agreements with Washington now in order to avoid problems with the future administration,” the expert noted.

  • NATO military at the Silver Arrow exercise in Latvia
  • Reuters
  • © Ints Kalnins

According to Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior fellow at the Center for European Studies at the IMEMO RAS, Washington sees the Baltic republics as a military base and expects them to distance themselves from Russia as much as possible.

“However, these desires of the United States and the Baltic political elite run counter to the mood of the population, who would like to live in a calm environment, and not in a state of military psychosis, which is daily present in the media thanks to the invented Russian threat,” the analyst explained in a conversation with RT.

Olenchenko also noted that the social policy of the Baltic states does not meet the requirements of local residents, so the political leadership of these countries is trying to distract the population with their statements about rapprochement with the United States.

“The Baltic economy depends on other European economies, the pace of development of which is slowing today. Therefore, tensions in the society of the Baltic republics will only increase, and the distance between the expectations of the population and the ideas of the political leadership will increase. At the same time, Russia will be blamed for everything again, ”the expert concluded.