"Russia has chosen a path which is a long-term confrontation," the head of Estonia's Foreign Intelligence Service warned Tuesday. Kaupo Rosin said Russia plans to double the number of troops it has stationed near its borders with NATO members in northern Europe, and the "Kremlin is probably anticipating a possible conflict with NATO within the next decade or so," reports Reuters. The intelligence service predicted that Russia will double the 19,000 troops it has stationed near its border with Estonia and expand the number of troops on its 830-mile border with Finland, NATO's newest member, USA Today reports.
"We will see an increase in armed personnel carriers, tanks, artillery systems over the coming years," said Rosin, who called for a counter-buildup of NATO forces. Estonia and the two other Baltic states, Latvia and Lithuania, boosted their defense spending to more than 2% of GDP, in line with NATO guidelines, after Russia annexed Crimea almost a decade ago, Reuters notes. Asked about Donald Trump's remark that he would encourage Russia to do "whatever the hell they want" to alliance members that don't spend enough on defense, Rosin said, "Such statements are never helpful."
Estonia's prime minister has been placed on a wanted list by Russia's Interior Ministry, becoming the first leader on a list that includes dozens of officials from the Baltic states and Poland, the AP reports. Russian officials said Kaja Kallas was added to the list because of efforts to remove Soviet-era WWII monuments in Estonia. She slammed the move as a "scare tactic. " Russia may believe that issuing a fictitious arrest warrant will silence Estonia," Kallas said. "I refuse to be silenced–I will continue to vocally support Ukraine and advocate for the strengthening of European defenses." (More Russia stories.)
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