There are few politicians who are really cool. But Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is definitely one of them. Her father was the 14th Prime Minister of Estonia, her mother was six months old when the Russians put her and Kaya's grandmother in a cattle truck and sent them to Siberia. Such a background shapes a person, I would say. I came across Prime Minister Kaja Kallas's speech yesterday for Paasikivi's company - "The Battle of Our Time" - and it is so apt in terms of Ukraine and Russia that I decided to translate it for you.
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,
you may be wondering why I called this speech "The Battle of Our Time". It's a reference to the scene in The Lord of the Rings where Gandalf and Pippin are standing on a balcony in Minas Tirith looking east. And Gandalf says to the young hobbit: "So at last comes the great battle of our time." The wizard knew what danger awaited him. He knew what would happen if the forces of good failed. He knew that it was necessary to exert all forces to make the world safe for all living things.
So let's ask: do we understand the scale of what is happening in Ukraine and what is at stake here? Is our response adequate and what would be the cost of failure?
Open war of aggression aimed at the annexation of territory has returned to Europe. This war is not only about Ukraine, but about the rules-based international order and the future security architecture of Europe. Let's keep in mind that Russia aimed its ultimatums at us - at NATO and EU member states. That was in December last year. At the time, the Kremlin demanded an end to NATO's open-door policy, demanded that NATO return to its pre-1997 borders, and demanded the limitation of military equipment on the territory of sovereign countries.
Russia is willing to use military force to achieve its goals. Things that we in Europe considered to be a thing of the past have become the nightmare of today. In Ukraine, Russia attacks civilians, destroys civilian infrastructure, mass kills, tortures, rapes and deports.
This is not a coincidence, but a feature of the Russian way of conducting war. We are witnessing state-organized war crimes. The Kremlin has made it clear that its goal is to wipe Ukraine off the world map. "Denazification" is an example of Moscow's hate speech - the official Russian label for the policy of destroying the Ukrainian state and its people. This is very similar to incitement to commit genocide - which is a clear crime regardless of whether genocide actually ensues. And such calls work - in the areas liberated by Ukrainians we see evidence of mass killings, torture, rape, deportations. In our part of Europe, we painfully remember this face of the Russian occupation.
Imperialism and colonialism have long been the promoted ideology of the Kremlin. They did not emerge on February 24 this year. The warning signs and actions have been there for a long time.
Russia justifies and cloaks its actions under the label of "liberating" people. Freeing those who did not ask for freedom. They justify this messianic zeal by defeating Nazi Germany and pointing out that the Soviet Union helped save Europe and the world from Nazism. But they always forget to add that it was the Soviet Union together with Nazi Germany at the time that together started the Second World War. Moscow attacked Poland on September 17, 1939, and Finland on November 30.
History matters. The Soviet Union did collapse, but unlike its imperialist ideology. While we rewrote history textbooks after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this never happened in Russia.
While the crimes of Nazism were unequivocally condemned and tried before tribunals, the crimes of Communism were not. We had the Tokyo and Nuremberg tribunals, but the Moscow tribunal never happened. Instead, Putin contributed to the revival of Stalinism in Russia, and it is no wonder that according to opinion polls, 70 percent of Russians approve of Stalin and his policies.
If people admire dictators, there is nothing stopping them from becoming one or submitting to one. If past atrocities are hidden from people, then they have no qualms about committing new ones in the future. This is exactly what we are seeing now in the behavior of Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
Ladies and gentlemen, Estonia, like Finland, shares a border with Russia. Both countries have a long history with our common neighbor. Great countries can make mistakes and survive. For the small ones, the room for error is much smaller – the policy of stopping Russian aggression in Ukraine is an existential issue for us.
In the last century, Estonia and Finland had very different experiences with Russian violent imperialism. I want to pay tribute to Finland, which in 1939 decided to fight. Finland lost a lot of people and a lot of land, but you kept something sacred - your statehood. Estonian volunteers of the 200th Infantry Regiment fought in the Continuation War under the slogan "For Finnish freedom and Estonian honor"! Estonian freedom was gone, they fought for its honor. Finland lost a lot, but Estonia lost everything - we lost territory, freedom and a fifth of the population to Soviet terror. And behind the Iron Curtain, we felt forgotten and abandoned for half a century.
We learned a few lessons from this:
First, freedom must be fought for no matter what happens. Because not fighting is much worse. Ukrainians are proving the same thing to the whole world every day.
Second, if you want peace, you must prepare for war. Estonia has been spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense for many years. Next year, Estonia's defense spending will be around 3 percent. By 2024, it will be more than 3 percent. Like Finland, we have retained conscription and our armed forces are based on reserves. We buy HIMARS, long-range anti-ship missile systems, medium-range air defense and much more.
Third, when we regained our independence after 50 years of occupation, we decided that we would never be alone again. Never again without friends and allies. That is why we are in the EU and NATO.
Dear friends, Estonia was among the first to ratify the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO. Finland's membership in the Alliance will open new horizons in bilateral and Nordic-Baltic regional defense cooperation between our countries. Most Finns live in the southern part of Finland, most Estonians in the northern part of Estonia. This is, in one sentence, the reason for strengthening our bilateral defense cooperation.
Today, at a joint seminar of our governments, we discussed a report on future bilateral relations. The report addresses many issues, but one chapter is missing - it does not touch on security and defence. It was written before February 24th and published in March. In the future, security must be at the forefront of our cooperation. Especially because it is related to many areas - energy security, cyber security, critical infrastructure protection.
Ladies and gentlemen, since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, our government has based our response on three lines:
First, to support Ukraine militarily, economically and politically.
Second, if you want peace, you must prepare for war. Estonia has been spending 2 percent of its GDP on defense for many years. Next year, Estonia's defense spending will be around 3 percent. By 2024, it will be more than 3 percent. Like Finland, we have retained conscription and our armed forces are based on reserves. We buy HIMARS, long-range anti-ship missile systems, medium-range air defense and much more.
Third, when we regained our independence after 50 years of occupation, we decided that we would never be alone again. Never again without friends and allies. That is why we are in the EU and NATO.
Dear friends, Estonia was among the first to ratify the membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO. Finland's membership in the Alliance will open new horizons in bilateral and Nordic-Baltic regional defense cooperation between our countries. Most Finns live in the southern part of Finland, most Estonians in the northern part of Estonia. This is, in one sentence, the reason for strengthening our bilateral defense cooperation.
Today, at a joint seminar of our governments, we discussed a report on future bilateral relations. The report addresses many issues, but one chapter is missing - it does not touch on security and defence. It was written before February 24th and published in March. In the future, security must be at the forefront of our cooperation. Especially because it is related to many areas - energy security, cyber security, critical infrastructure protection.
Ladies and gentlemen, since the beginning of Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine, our government has based our response on three lines:
First, to support Ukraine militarily, economically and politically.
Second – increasing the price of aggression, isolating Russia and preventing impunity for war criminals.
And thirdly – strengthening our own defenses.
We started sending weapons to Ukraine in December last year. Javelins went smoothly - they played a key role in the battle for Kyiv. Unfortunately, our delivery of howitzers took longer. Now let's imagine a scenario where the free world sends the weapons and ammunition we're sending now, as early as January or February. Many lives would have been saved. Then we witnessed too much restraint and too much self-deterrence.
Russia's strategy towards the Euro-Atlantic community relies on three weapons – pain, fear and hope.
About the pain caused by Europe's energy starvation.
About the fear of nuclear war.
About the hope that Ukraine will be able to use pressure to conclude a peace agreement in which it will leave part of the conquered territory to Russia.
How should we respond?
As for the pain Russia is causing us with an energy weapon - we will survive and thrive. The Russian aggression showed what happens to you when you team up with partners who turn trust into a weapon. Trust comes at a price - but it's a price worth paying. The European Union and its member states have learned from their dependence on Russian fossil fuels and have sharply moved away from them.
Regarding fear, remember what Franklin Delano Roosevelt said: “We have only fear to fear.” If we allow ourselves to be successfully nuclear blackmailed just once, we will wake up to a much, much more dangerous world.
So why not call for peace? How about freezing the conflict and seeking a diplomatic solution?
I really hope that Europe has learned that concessions only strengthen the aggressor. And that the aggressor will never stop unless someone stops him. The longer it takes, the harder it gets. In Estonia, we know from our painful history what Russian peace really means - executions, torture and deportation.
Any pause in Ukraine today would allow Russia to prepare, rest, and regroup in order to resume aggression later. And in the end, to paraphrase Churchill, we would have both shame and war. After all, we had a chance to prevent future aggressions by Russia in 2008 and 2014. But the reaction of the free world back then was weak. Principles have been exchanged for money, truth for gas. And the confidence of the aggressor only grew. And finally, we have come to this - a genocidal war on a large scale.
As for peace, unless the Kremlin abandons its goal of conquering new territories in Ukraine, one can hardly expect any real peace talks. I do not believe in the goodwill of the obvious aggressor and cold-blooded war criminal. As European Commission President von der Leyen recently said: "Now is the time to show determination, not concessions."
Ukraine has shown that this war can be won, but it needs our support – military, political, moral and financial. We must be at the forefront of helping Ukraine integrate into the Euro-Atlantic community and we should support it as much as possible as an EU candidate country. Ukraine needs to be rebuilt, and we need to find a way to use Russia's frozen assets to do so now - strictly on the basis of the rule of law, of course. And we must support Ukraine's path to NATO membership based on the commitments made in Bucharest in 2008 and in Madrid in 2022. Ukraine's full post-war Euro-Atlantic integration is essential for its future and crucial for European security.
The perpetrators of this war of aggression and other war crimes committed in Ukraine must be brought to justice - the International Criminal Court plays an important role here. However, there is also a need to establish a tribunal for the crime of aggression – as the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction over this crime. The EU should play a leading role here.
Last but not least, we should never distract from strengthening our own defenses. And we must not forget that Russia is also waging a global hybrid war against Europe and beyond. He hopes that high energy prices and an influx of refugees will weaken our public support for Ukraine and leave us with fewer funds to support it. Russia spreads disinformation around the world, continues to meddle in our elections, and weaponizes addiction. He is still conducting cyber attacks on us. Freedom from dependence on Russia means freedom from Russian blackmail.
Let me go back to the questions I asked at the beginning. What is at stake in Ukraine? It is our own freedom that we are protecting there. It is about freedom from repression, freedom from war crimes, freedom to decide on one's own security arrangement and foreign policy direction.
This freedom is not free. Ukrainians are paying for it with their lives. We pay euros and have to constantly repeat to ourselves that gas may be expensive, but freedom is priceless.
I'll close with two short sentences that I know you all agree with:
Glory to Ukraine! and Suomi NATO: on!
Translated by Viktor Janis - https://www.facebook.com/viktor.janis.5 and Zdeněk Beil
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