Front Line Country We Need To Support

Following in the footsteps of HRH The Prince of Wales, I visited Estonia, which has been part of NATO’s front line with Russia for 21 years. The country formed a deep partnership with the British Army in Afghanistan and I was fortunate to have an outstanding Estonian Colonel as my deputy in Baghdad. He cut his teeth as a young officer in the Red Army, so I learned a lot from him about the way the Russian army works.

Eleven years ago, the threat of invasion from Russia was high, but the deployment of British troops near to Tartu has helped to prevent the same thing that happened to Ukraine. During my visit, the Royal Engineers contingent had their roulement and it was good to see them wearing their uniforms proudly in public.

Inevitably tourist numbers are down, but as a result the capital, Tallinn, with its champagne air and fantastic UNESCO listed Old Town, is not too busy. Very sensibly, the country has played down the eras when it was ruled by Russia, Poland, Sweden and Germany and prefers to celebrate its medieval, Hanseatic heritage, when it was a highly successful, independent Baltic trading port.

There is still a strong Russian influence here (not as much as Lithuania), but there is also plenty of evidence to show where the country’s sympathies now lie. We must not lose sight of the fact that Putin still has plans to invade this country, so we need to keep supporting it.

Stop The War Protest In Tallinn