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Estonia could hold out against a Russian attack for two weeks before NATO support arrives, a senior commander said.
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The Baltic states have stepped up their defenses amid fears that Russian aggression could turn against them.
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Estonia shares a border with Russia. In 2024, defense expenditure will amount to more than 3% of GDP.
Estonia was able to withstand a Russian attack for two weeks before NATO support came in, a top Estonian commander said.
The NATO country, which shares a land border with Russia, “could withstand an invasion for a few weeks,” Colonel Mati Tikerpuu, the head of one of Estonia’s two army brigades, told El País.
He said this would “last long enough for Allied reinforcements to arrive.”
Estonia, which has a population of just 1.4 million, says its defense spending will exceed 3% of GDP by 2024. That is much more than the contributions of most NATO countries. This is due to deteriorating relations with Russia and concerns about a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
As a percentage of GDP, Estonia has also given more military aid to Ukraine than any other country.
At the same time, American, British and French troops are regularly present at the training base where Tikerpuu spoke, some 10 miles from the border with Russia, the Spanish newspaper reported — a sign of NATO’s stepped-up approach to the region.
In an interview in February, Tikerpuu told ERR, Estonia’s national broadcaster, that “nothing can be ruled out” when it comes to preparing for a possible Russian attack.
The war in Ukraine has given Estonia a foretaste, which has helped the country determine priorities for its own armed forces, he told the medium.
Drones and artillery would be central to any conflict, he said, noting that Russia still prefers massive “meat wave” attacks over the cost of using its highly accurate weapons.
Despite increased military spending, Estonia’s armed forces are limited; the army has no large battle tanks, and the only operational military air base, near Tallinn, has no fighter planes.
In 2022, the Department of Defense announced the purchase of six U.S.-made HIMARS rocket launch systems, which would be delivered this year.
According to a recent report by the Estonian intelligence service, Russia plans to station nearly 40,000 troops on the border in the coming years, El País reported.
That number exceeds Estonia’s active force of 4,200, although the country has just under 40,000 trained reservists, a result of the country’s conscription policy.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas told Business Insider last year that she worries that Russia is “the most direct threat to European security right now.”
In March, the US approved a $228 million defense aid package for Estonia and neighboring Lithuania and Latvia, aimed at speeding up military infrastructure.
In February, the former Soviet states agreed to build a new defense line with bunkers along their shared 1,600-kilometer border with Russia. Reserve troops were ready to install additional defenses at short notice, such as mines and anti-tank pyramids in the shape of ‘dragon’s teeth’.
Estonia is also part of a coalition of six countries building a “drone wall” to protect their borders, although few details have been released.
The countries have warned about the threat of Russian hybrid attacks, attacks that disrupt the battle but do not lead to open military action.
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