New NATO plans for the defence of its eastern flank would keep Russian forces out of the Baltics, says Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur, confirming reports by the New York Times.
“Previously, deterrence focused on NATO’s ability to defend and, if necessary, regain its territory; the new defence plans focus on giving up the luxury of surrendering territory in the Baltic Sea region, which lacks strategic depth,” Pevkur was quoted by Estonia’s public broadcaster ERR on Tuesday.
Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas made international headlines last June when she told the Financial Times that NATO defence plans from the period included the possibility of 180 days of Russian occupation of the Baltic states, saying this would see Estonia wiped from the map.
According to Pevkur, since the NATO summit in Madrid in the summer of 2022, the alliance’s defence posture is shifting towards deterrence and plans to immediately defend every metre of NATO territory.
Pevkur recalled that NATO has been working on separate regional plans for some time, which will cover Estonia and other Baltic countries.
“The final version of the project responds quite well to our interests,” Pevkur said of NATO’s regional plans that the alliance has been working for some time. “Some details can still be refined, but the goal should be to have plans that could be approved at the highest political level at the NATO summit in Vilnius.”
According to him, the new plans take into account Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO.
“Looking only at supply routes, we see that we are no longer dependent on the Suwalki Gap, but we can also create a NATO corridor to the north,” Pevkur commented the importance of Finland joining the alliance. “This is an extremely important aspect from the point of view of Estonia’s defence.”
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