Estonia – Strong Defender of Ukraine

It has been our contention that the former captive nations of Russian subjugation are their own best defenders against renewed Russian aggression. They know the reality of Moscow’s prison of nations and they know that Russia, regardless of its political coloration, is eager to rebuild this evil environment. This has been their collective message since the end of World War Two. Actually, Russia’s march against neighboring countries isn’t a current campaign. As we’ve been saying, it’s been pursuing this belligerent quest for a millennium.

Today’s Russian invasion and war against Ukraine demonstrates the danger that is at the border of every former captive nation. Yes, some of them, Poland and the Baltic States, have the benefit of NATO’s protection but trepidation is in the alliance’s warnings to the Kremlin.

The only solid support they can offer each other, especially Ukraine, is collectively defending each other from Russia’s imperial designs. We have advocated for a strong military alliance among them as well as a most favored nation arrangement for commercial purposes.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the now independent and sovereign countries have shown to be the best advocates for Ukraine. They have vigorously endorsed closing the skies above Ukraine and sending Ukraine all modern weapons with which to subdue and possible vanquish the aggressor.

We’ve compiled here a selection of strong observations by Estonian officials about the war and helping Ukraine from the Estonian World, which proves this point.

• Estonian president Alar Karis gave a speech on March 16 in Tallinn at a concert in support of Ukraine, where he said that the missiles falling on Ukrainian cities are falling on every city in Europe and that all of Europe is at war, fighting against the aggressor and for peace. “Putin has taken from us a world in which, despite its uncertainties and the crises it faced, one thing seemed certain: no European country would wage war on another. Putin’s aggression towards Ukraine has changed everything. The attacks of Russia’s land, sea and air forces on Ukrainian people and cities expose the true face of evil,” Karis said. “This war will not end any time soon; nor will it end once the last battle has been fought. It will weigh heavily on generations to come. Ukraine will need our support for a long time, and it is the debt we owe them. Because again, in defending Odesa, Mariupol and Kyiv, they are defending Berlin, Tallinn and Stockholm.”

• Policymakers and the public can either boycott Russian energy fully today, to stop the invasion immediately; or they can watch Russian forces commit one outrage after another – every day moving closer to the territory of the EU, Oleg Ustenko, an economic adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote in the Estonian World.

• The Estonian Foreign Ministry on March 18 summoned the Russian ambassador to the country and handed over a diplomatic note stating that three staff members with diplomatic status of the Russian Embassy have been declared persona non grata. According to the foreign ministry, the activity of the people in question has been in violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and therefore they must leave Estonia within 72 hours. All three have directly and actively undermined Estonia’s security and spread propaganda justifying Russia’s military action, the foreign ministry said.

• The British Army’s Royal Welsh battalion has taken over as the lead unit of the NATO battlegroup in Estonia. The formal ceremony was held in Tapa military base, Estonia. The British battalion will lead the 1,700-strong NATO battlegroup that also includes French and Danish troops.

• The Estonian Council of Churches and the leaders of member churches, including Eugene, the head of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, issued a statement condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• Estonia has contributed €220 million ($243,529,000) worth of aid to Ukraine, the major share of which is military aid, but the country has also sent medical and humanitarian aid, according to the Estonian Defense Ministry. Estonia has sent an undisclosed number of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine as well as Soviet-made 122-mm howitzer D-30s.

• The Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet attended a recent meeting of NATO defense ministers at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, where the situation in Ukraine and further options for supporting Ukraine were discussed. “Estonia’s message at the NATO table is to significantly strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank, which also means increasing the troops and capabilities stationed in Estonia,” Laanet said in a statement.

• The United States Congress has passed a $1.5 trillion budget package that includes $180 million in security assistance for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 2022.

• The Council of Europe today expelled Russia from the continent’s foremost human rights body in an unprecedented move over Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine. The 47-nation organization’s committee of ministers said in statement that “the Russian Federation ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe as from today.” After the decision, the Council of Europe staff went outside of its headquarters in Strasbourg, France, and took down the Russian flag. Russia was a member of the organization for 26 years.

• Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in an interview with the Estonian Public Broadcasting’s radio service that the West should not openly say it will not intervene in Ukraine under any circumstances – just like the US president, Joe Biden, has repeatedly said, for example.

• The Estonian parliament on March 14 adopted a resolution addressed to the parliaments of other EU member states and NATO, as well as to the parliaments of other countries regarding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, in which the legislative body demands a no-fly zone in Ukraine. In the resolution, supported by 90 MPs of 101, the parliament expressed its support to the defenders and the people of the state of Ukraine in their fight against the Russian Federation “that has launched a criminal war, and calls on showing absolute support to Ukraine in its war for maintaining its freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

• The Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Laanet said at the Estonian Television’s morning program that he personally supports the closure of the airspace over Ukraine. “If you send fighters to actually defend the airspace that is an additional argument for intervention. At the end of the day, I dare not say whether NATO’s decision will be either way. But if you ask my opinion, personally I would make that move. My opinion is yes,” Laanet said.

• Estonia's Twitter handles include Stand with Ukraine after the ministry or department designation.

#StandWithUkraine

Zelenskyy Addresses Joint Session of US Congress; Suggests Creating ‘United for Peace’ Association

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has already captured the imagination of people of good will around the world, today became a member of a unique fraternity of 48 foreign leaders to address a joint session of the US Congress.

After already speaking in the British and Canadian parliaments, Zelenskyy turned his attention to the United States with an impassioned plea for more humanitarian and military aid.

In a 17-minute address filled with poignant citations from American history, Zelenskyy bartered with his audience of 535 lawmakers, many of whom have been ardent supporters of Ukraine for decades, begging for one type of defense mechanism and then offering a more palatable one.

As Ukrainians fight for their country, lives and freedom against Russian invaders, Zelenskyy reminded the legislators that “Russia has attacked more than just our land and our cities. It went on a brutal offensive against our values. Basic human values. It threw tanks and planes against our freedom. Against our right to live freely in our country, choosing our own future. Against our desire for happiness. Against our national dreams. Just like yours, ordinary people of America. Just like those of everyone in the United States.”

And he insisted on a practical response to safeguard his country and people from annihilation.

“And we ask for a response. For the response from the world. For the response to terror. Is this too much of a request?

“To establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine is to save people. Humanitarian no-fly zone. Conditions under which Russia will no longer be able to terrorize our peaceful cities every day and night. If that’s too much, we offer an alternative.

“You know what defense systems we need. C-300 and other similar systems.

“You know how much depends on the battlefield on the ability to use aircraft. Powerful, strong aircraft. To protect your people. Your freedom. Your land. Aircraft that can help Ukraine. That can help Europe,” he said combining the defense of Ukraine and Europe.

Zelenskyy cited Mount Rushmore, Pearl Harbor, 9-11, Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” to drive home the point of Ukraine’s suffering and expectations.

Just as American endured death from the skies on September 11, so too are Ukrainian cities experiencing this catastrophic sensation every day: “In a way you could not stop it. Our state experiences this every day! Every night! For three weeks now! Different Ukrainian cities... Odesa and Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy, Zhytomyr and Lviv, Mariupol and Dnipro. Russia has turned the Ukrainian sky into a source of death. For thousands of people.

“Russian troops have already fired nearly a thousand missiles at Ukraine. Countless bombs. They use drones to kill more precisely. This is a terror Europe has not seen for 80 years!”

Zelenskyy repeated the famous “I have a dream” quote but altered it to say “I have a necessity. The necessity to protect our sky. The necessity for your decision. Your help. And it will mean exactly the same thing. The same thing you feel. When you hear: I have a dream.”

The thanked President Biden, legislators and Americans for their support for war-torn Ukraine and its people who are fighting every day for their existence against Russian invaders. He called for sanctions against all Russian legislators, urged all American companies to leave the Russian market that’s “flooded with our blood” and insisted that all American ports be closed to Russian goods and services.

In order to protect future generations against such deadly invasions by foreign enemies, Zelenskyy suggested the establishment of a new association – U24.

“United for Peace. A union of responsible states that have the strength and conscience to stop conflicts. Immediately. Provide all necessary assistance in 24 hours. If necessary - weapons. If necessary - sanctions. Humanitarian support. Political support. Funding. Everything necessary to preserve peace quickly. To save lives. In addition, such an association could provide assistance to those who are experiencing natural disasters, man-made disasters. Who fell victim to a humanitarian crisis or epidemic,” Zelenskyy elaborated.

“If such an alliance, the U-24, had already been formed, I believe it would have saved thousands of lives. In our country, many other countries that need peace so crucially, that suffered inhuman destruction...”

Zelenskyy pointed out that it is not enough to be a leader of a nation, today one needs to be the Leader of the world. “Being the Leader of the world means to be the Leader of Peace,” he clarified.

After showing the audience a visually graphic and psychologically disturbing video of the death and destruction that Russia has rained on Ukrainians, Zelenskyy continued: “Today the Ukrainian people are defending not only Ukraine, we are fighting for the values of Europe and the world, sacrificing our lives in the name of the Future. That’s why today the American people are helping not just Ukraine, but Europe and the world to keep the planet alive, to keep justice in history.”

And addressing senseless deaths and his perception of Biden’s obligation, Zelenskyy said: “Now I am almost 45 years old. Today my age stopped when the hearts of more than 100 children stopped beating. I see no sense in life if it cannot stop death. And this is my main mission as the Leader of my people – great Ukrainians.

“And as the Leader of my nation I am addressing President Biden.  You are the Leader of the nation, of your great nation. I wish you to be the Leader of the world. Being the Leader of the world means to be the Leader of Peace.”

Hopefully President Zelenskyy’s words did not fall on deaf ears.

Badge of X-Captive Nations’ Courageous Support for Ukraine

The visit by prime ministers of Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic to Ukraine in the midst of the barbaric invasion of the country by Russia cannot by disparaged by the free world and the other former captive nations of Russian subjugation.

Traveling to Kyiv on Tuesday, March 15, to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal were Poland’s Mateusz Morawiecki and his deputy Jarosław Kaczyński, Slovenia’s Janez Janša and the Czech Republic’s Petr Fiala.

The purpose of the visit was “to confirm the unequivocal support of the entire European Union for the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine and to present a broad package of support for the Ukrainian state and society,” a government spokesperson said.

Read those words again. They were expressed by high-ranking officials of the member-states of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that officially shied away from such strong gestures because it feared a catastrophic response by Russian führer Vladimir Putin. The travelling officials put their lives in jeopardy but the meaning of their presence in Kyiv far outweighed the danger. They emphasized, like the former captive nations have been saying for the past three decades and even since the end of World War Two about the dangers of Russian aggression, that their public sign of unity is a major weapon against Moscow.

“At such breakthrough times for the world, it is our duty to be where history is forged; because it is not about us, but about the future of our children who deserve to live in a world free from tyranny,” Morawiecki said in a Facebook post.

The Polish official said he and the other leaders were going to Kyiv to “show Ukrainians our solidarity” and denounced “Putin’s criminal aggression against Ukraine.”

Their words and manifestation sent a resounding message to all countries around the world.

Morawiecki also observed that “It is here, in war-torn Kyiv, that history is being made. It is here, that freedom fights against the world of tyranny. It is here that the future of us all hangs in the balance.”

Indeed, for the former captive nations that know firsthand what Russian subjugation means, noting that the battle for freedom against tyranny begins in the Ukrainian capital reinforces the commonality of their ongoing cause even 30 years after the fall of the iron curtain.

Slovenia’s Jansa described the visit as a way to send a message that Ukraine is a European country that deserves to be accepted one day into the European Union. Two weeks earlier, Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal to the European Parliament on that very subject.

“We are fighting also to be equal members of Europe,” Zelenskyy told EU lawmakers on March 1. “I believe that today we are showing everybody that is what we are.”

Jansa said the war has awoken Europeans to idea that the bloc represents fundamental ideas that are under threat — and which Ukrainians are defending with their lives.

Also traveling with the three leaders was Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Poland’s de-facto leader whose presence carries a symbolic significance. He is the surviving twin of the late President Lech Kaczynski, who died in a plane crash on Russian soil in 2010 along with 95 other Polish officials, among them political and military leaders, as they traveled to pay tribute to the Poles executed by the Soviet secret police during World War II. Kaczynski has long suspected that Putin had a role in provoking the accident.

Ukraine’s Shmyhal praised the “courage of true friends” and said the leaders would discuss “support of Ukraine and strengthening sanctions against the Russian aggression,” on a Twitter post.

Fiala said the main purpose of the visit was to tell Ukraine it is not alone. “We know you’re fighting for your lives ... but we also know you’re fighting for our lives, our freedom,” Fiala said. “Probably the main goal of our visit, the main message of our mission, is to say that you’re not alone. Our countries stand by you. Europe stands by you.”

“At a time when many ambassadors have left Ukraine in connection with the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, these dignitaries, leaders of their beautiful independent European states, fear nothing, care for our fate more, and they are here to support us. This is a great courageous, correct and friendly step. And I am sure that with such friends, with such countries, with such neighbors and partners, we will really be able to win,” Zelenskyy told reporters after the meeting.

At this particular moment in history, this joint meeting is as strong as a Javelin missile. The three prime ministers showed exceptional leadership in a crisis that should be imitated by the other x-captive nations that weren’t present like Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. When the free world sees that the former jailers have arisen against their jailer, perhaps it will take seriously their campaign against Russian imperialism.

Regrettably, Vice-President Kamala Harris, who visited Poland last week and was within a car ride from the border with Ukraine, failed to demonstrate the same level of political solidarity with Ukraine and the quest of the former captive nations.

Perhaps next week's NATO Summit that President Biden will attend should be held in the woods near the Polish-Ukrainian border like the first Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations conference that took place near Zhytomyr in 1943.

#StandWithUkraine