Ambassador to France after having been in the Czech Republic, Lembit Uibo represents a small country that is becoming big: Estonia. Member of NATO since the great enlargement of 2004 – seven countries had then joined the Atlantic Alliance, joined very recently by Finland which has just become the 31st member – Tallinn has not ceased to alert its European partners on the danger posed by Russia since the dismemberment of Georgia (2008), the annexation of Crimea and the invasion of Donbass (2014). But she was preaching in the desert.
Since the outbreak of the large-scale attack against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the former Soviet republic (1939-1991) has finally made its voice heard, in particular through its Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, a rising figure on the European scene. and international. We met Lembit Uibo, Estonian ambassador to France since 2021, who takes stock of the situation.
The Express: How the war in Ukraine change Estonia?
Lembit Uibo: First, it changed our image. Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine demonstrated that our insistence on alerting our European partners to the Russian threat was not delusional or paranoid, but intimate knowledge of our neighbor and its psychological and political springs. We have been repeating for years that Moscow has in no way given up on the logic of “spheres of influence”, nor on imposing its way of life on its neighbours. Russia believes it has the right to control the opinions of people who live within what it considers to be its perimeter.
Noting that our reading of the situation was correct does not in any way constitute a reason for satisfaction; at least we are now heard and listened to on the diplomatic level, as illustrated by the growing notoriety of our Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, highly respected internationally. The attitude of European partners towards us has evolved. This is confirmed with each interaction with our interlocutors. Despite the modest size of Estonia, which has 1.3 million inhabitants, we weigh more.
What can you tell us about Russia, a neighboring country to yours, and about the Russians?
First, that their mentality is radically different from that of Westerners. They don’t understand the concept of compromise. It is beyond their understanding. The Russians only understand the balance of power. They only respect the law of the strongest. But when they gain the upper hand, they do not stop on their own: they continually push their advantage and crush whoever stands in their way. This is why we must always hold them high. When the European Union and NATO present a united, united front, they understand. When the EU issues sanctions and collectively reinforces its eastern military flank, the message is also clear and “readable” to them.
Kaja Kallas, leader of the liberal Reform Party and favorite for the post of Prime Minister after the parliamentary elections in Estonia, surrounded by her father, former Prime Minister and European Commissioner Siim Kallas (d), and MEP Urmas Paet ( g), in Tallinn on March 3, 2019.
© / afp.com/Raigo PAJULA
The Russians know very well that if the Westerners are united, they cannot win. That is why they have been so devoted for so long to dividing us, to undermining the European “narrative”, to stirring up internal quarrels among us. They have invested considerable time, money, energy and propaganda resources in it for years.
What is your experience of Russians?
I grew up in a Russian-speaking area of Tallinn. I learned Russian on the street, playing with neighborhood kids. With them, there was always an element of intimidation in human relations. To integrate the football team, for example, you were not welcome spontaneously. You had to show your credentials, which meant imposing yourself, proving your strength, commanding respect. If you remained on the defensive, shy and in your corner, you were cooked… Knowing how to defend yourself was essential.
Does the Russian-speaking minority, which represents around a quarter of the population, pose a threat to Estonia’s internal security?
Most Russian speakers live in Tallinn or in the border town of Narva, in the far east of the country, opposite the Russian town of Ivangorod, on the other bank of the Narva river. This community is not homogeneous. The youngest have traveled all over Europe and sometimes the world: they adhere to Western values and feel at home in Estonia. The older ones, who were sometimes members of the nomenklaturalost their privileges when independence was restored in 1991. Some are Poutinophiles but they are ultra-minority.
When Moscow started its policy of Russification in 1939, more than 90% of the inhabitants of Estonia were Estonian speakers; in 1991, Russian speakers represented almost 40% of the inhabitants. These homo sovieticus had been really brainwashed. They had been told that the Estonians were a sub-category to be dominated, even crushed. The Russians didn’t care or respect our culture and language.
When someone was caught speaking Estonian in the street, he could hear himself say: “But why do you speak this language of fascists?” It was the kind of thing that we heard constantly, including in my family where there were Russian speakers. These people were the masters of the country. Many left in 1991 but many stayed. However, there are not enough of them to pose a threat. The danger is our neighbour, Russia. This is why our defense budget has increased from 2% to 3% of GDP.
How do you help Ukraine?
We started doing this even before the full-scale invasion of February 24, 2022, because there were signs that Russian threats could materialize quickly. This is why we provided Kiev with very useful equipment from the start of the conflict, such as the Javelin anti-tank missile launchers which were instrumental in destroying enemy tanks. In January 2023, Estonia voted its largest military aid package, of 370 million euros, which represents more than 1% of our GDP. This package includes anti-tank ammunition, mortars, grenade launchers, rifles. Our help doesn’t stop there. We also host nearly 70,000 Ukrainian refugees on our soil, a considerable figure given the size of Estonia.
“Estonians overwhelmingly approve of our support for Ukraine”
Do you provide Ukraine with your cyber defense expertise?
Of course. In 2007, Estonia was the first country to suffer a large-scale Russian cyberattack [NDLR : attaque intervenue alors que le gouvernement venait de décider le déplacement d’une statue soviétique hors du centre-ville de la capitale]. A year later, on my country’s initiative, NATO opened the Cyber Defense Cooperation Center in Estonia. Since then, we have developed great expertise in this area. We obviously share our knowledge with Ukraine, which regularly suffers cyberattacks from Russia.
What does the renewal of Kaja Kallas at the head of the government mean, having emerged strengthened from the legislative elections of March 5?
That Estonians approve of both his centre-right liberal politics and his personality itself. She achieved the best score ever obtained by an outgoing Prime Minister. And she dragged her party and the government behind her. This represents a huge vote of confidence in favor of a policy of support for Ukraine. It is a message of solidarity that resonates internationally. It means that Estonians are in favor of devoting a large part of our GDP to aid to Ukraine. And this, despite an inflation rate of around 20% in our country.
“Our weapons are more useful in Ukraine than at home”
Kaja Kallas reiterates that we must help Ukraine win this war as much as we can. If necessary, we must draw on our strategic reserves. Our armament is currently more useful in Ukraine than at home. The Prime Minister knows, like the majority of Estonians, Baltics, Poles or Finns, that in the face of the Russians, we must not back down. It was she who proposed to her European peers, at the beginning of February, that the Member States of the EU unite to order one million munitions – shells, missiles – at a cost estimated at 4 billion euros.
It is important to send this clear signal to Western arms industries so that they know that their order books will be filled. The armaments sector needs visibility, otherwise it hesitates to increase production rates. Our aid to the Ukrainians must not weaken. They are not just fighting for their territory but also for our democracies, our ideals, our freedoms. We are united with them. But there is a difference: we are paying for this war with euros; they pay for it with their lives.
What does Finland’s membership of NATO mean for Estonia, which has just become the 31st member of the Atlantic Alliance?
This is very important because it strengthens and consolidates Estonia. As you know, our geographical position was not, until now, the most comfortable because we were located in the very north of Europe, at the extreme end of the NATO map. From now on, there is a big country – to which we are very close culturally and linguistically – above us: Finland. When Sweden in turn has joined NATO, then we can say that the Baltic Sea is a NATO lake taking into account all the allies that surround it (Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Denmark ).
The accession of Sweden and Finland was still an inconceivable prospect only a year and a half ago. With Russia’s barbaric assault on Ukraine, in a style reminiscent of World War II, everything changed. In Western societies, the perception of what Russia really represents is no longer the same. Alas, each additional day of war reinforces this negative impression. It’s safe to say that Vladimir Putin is a living advertisement for NATO.