President Kaljulaid: Russia does not pose physical threat to Estonia

TALLINN – President Kersti Kaljulaid said in an interview to The Washington Post that although Russia is not a physical threat to any NATO country, it is still a threat to the international security architecture.

According to Kaljulaid, she does not believe in Russia's aggression in Estonia because of NATO's deployments in the Baltic countries and Poland.

"We feel safer, and we also feel that in case there are different developments in Russia, the NATO deterrence is adequate. During the Cold War, the NATO umbrella was not just an umbrella on paper. It consisted of equipment and troops. It is exactly the same here now," Kaljulaid told The Washington Post when asked whether NATO's deployments make her feel safer.

When asked if she would like more troops and equipment in Estonia, Kaljulaid said that first, we need to make sure that NATO's command structure knows how it would react to [any Russian actions]. "They have to agree on how to get the follow-up troops in. This is what, in fact, makes our deterrence believable. Again, I do not think there is a danger to any NATO country physically. If the danger comes, it is more probably a communication attack — maybe cutting off some of the power systems," she said.

The president also said that Estonia does not buy Russian electricity but is connected to the Russian grid and it would be better if the country was connected to the European energy grid. "It is just an additional layer of security," she added.