Prime Minister Michal, dear Kristen, It is a pleasure to be back with you in beautiful Tallinn. We have just discussed how we keep NATO strong and Estonia secure. NATO is with you in the air, you mentioned it, Allied fighter jets at Ämari help protect the skies. On 1 September, Turkish jets scrambled from Ämari after a drone crossed Estonia’s border. And that is the mission doing its job. Across NATO’s eastern flank,...
Prime Minister Michal, dear Kristen, It is a pleasure to be back with you in beautiful Tallinn. We have just discussed how we keep NATO strong and Estonia secure. NATO is with you in the air, you mentioned it, Allied fighter jets at Ämari help protect the skies. On 1 September, Turkish jets scrambled from Ämari after a drone crossed Estonia’s border. And that is the mission doing its job. Across NATO’s eastern flank, we are strengthening our Integrated Air and Missile Defence, so that there is greater protection against the full range of airborne threats. NATO will keep this shield in place, over Estonia, over the Baltic region, and beyond. NATO is with you on the ground. Thank you for hosting the UK-led Forward Land Forces at Tapa. And since July, the First German-Netherlands Corps has held tactical command for the land defence of Estonia and Latvia. And NATO is with you at sea, where Baltic Sentry continues to stand guard against potential threats, including to our critical undersea infrastructure. We are with you, and it is clear that you are with NATO, too, making crucial contributions to our collective defence. You host the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. You host a DIANA [regional] hub. Your forces train hard, including in Exercise Spring Storm. You don’t just rely on the Alliance. Estonia strengthens it. You are leading on defence investment. Core defence spending this year is indeed above 5% of GDP, among the highest in the whole of NATO. Estonia doesn’t just meet its commitments. It sets the standards. On Ukraine, you have shown exceptional leadership. Since 2022, more than €850 million in military assistance, and several thousand Ukrainian soldiers trained. You remain committed to supporting Ukraine with at least 0.25% of GDP. And in January, Tallinn will host the Ukraine Recovery Conference. This is a clear signal that Estonia’s commitment to Ukraine goes beyond military support. It is about helping to rebuild what Russia has destroyed, strengthening Ukraine’s institutions, and securing Ukraine’s future. But with winter coming, and with Russia’s aggression unrelenting, Allies need to do more, especially in support of air defence. Russia continues its attacks on Ukrainian civilians. And it continues its hybrid campaign against NATO Allies. The arson at Milrem Robotics, which Estonia attributed to the Russian special services, is part of that campaign. Putin is trying to weaken our resolve and stop our support for Ukraine. But Russia is failing. It is failing on the battlefield in Ukraine. And we will not be intimidated. Prime Minister, dear Kristen, Estonia is doing its share for this Alliance, and more than its share for Ukraine. I want to thank you for your leadership and for all that Estonia is doing. Tarmo Maiberg - TV3 Estonia Questions to both of you. As you mentioned, Europe has seen a significant rise of so-called hybrid attacks with links to Russia. Just yesterday, British MI5 Director General stated that Russia remains aggressor number one, the Russian military and intelligence services are escalating their attempts. Isn't it time to say Russia is staging a shadow war against Europe, and is a sponsor of terrorism, such as Iran, has been named? Also, I would like to know, Mr Rutte, you are widely known as a pragmatic politician, but against Russia, pragmatism is not the answer, and Russian sabotage and hybrid attacks have not seen a concrete response from NATO. So, how long is NATO willing to endure these attacks? And also, have you called Mr Trump, considering the fact that SpaceX has downscaled the speed of Starlink for Ukrainians and Americans? Also, I said that this is a problematic case. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: Well, on that second question, I think the President was very clear yesterday when he had a short moment with the media leaving the White House for a campaign event, when he said intelligence sharing has not stopped. On your first question, when it comes to all this hybrid and cyber and other stuff the Russians are doing, we have trained to prepare for this. We have all the response options we need. You will not always see them, they will not always be public, it will not always be tit for tat. Sometimes it will be symmetric, sometimes anti-symmetric. You have seen what we did with Baltic Sentry in reaction to the cutting of the undersea sea cable late December 2024 between Estonia and Finland that led to the launch of Baltic Sentry in January 2025, so that was visible. It will not always be visible what we are doing, but here's the main thing: we are stronger. Russia is not in a good place. These hybrid attacks and whatever it is are a sign of weakness. What they love us to do is to talk about it the whole day and to be rattled and to have press conferences on it. We are not going to do that. We will react where we need to react. Again, not always visible, but the most important thing is that we will continue what we need to do: stay calm, carry on - which means investing in defence - but particularly making sure that Ukraine has what it needs and continue what it needs to stay strong in the fight. And therefore this announcement by this Prime Minister of Estonia, again supplying PURL, which is this crucial programme of US gear, still from yesterday, today, and tomorrow, going into Ukraine, paid for by Europeans to support that is crucial. It is the best answer we can give to any Russian hybrid attack. [Kristen Michal answer] Rain Kooli – Yle (Finnish National Broadcaster): Estonia's Foreign Minister has said recently in an interview that NATO could cut off Russia's access to Gulf of Finland and further Baltic Sea within hours following possible Russian attack on Alliance. Is this an agreed NATO position, this kind of measure, including Finland's, or is it Estonia's national assessment? And regarding to that, SACEUR Grynkewich gave a speech on Theory of Victory in Warsaw. What is your assessment of threat? Is Russia foolish enough to consider attacking any of NATO countries? Thank you. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte: We don't think so, and we see no imminent threat against NATO territory. And if we would see a build-up, we will react to it. But the message from General Grynkewich, the Supreme Allied Commander, in his speech on Monday was totally clear. And the message is this, that we will defend every inch of Allied territory, whether people are living there or not, whether it is close to Paris, close to Tallinn, close to Washington, or close to Ottawa. We will defend every inch of Allied territory. We have all the plans in place, we are prepared for that. We have the forward land forces all along the eastern flank of NATO. So that message is clear. Of course, what we will exactly do if the Russians are stupid enough to attack, and what we will then do, you will see then. So I will not go in depth into that, but you can be assured we will defend ourselves. But it was also clear that this is a defensive alliance. We will never, ever mount an attack towards anyone else, because that is not in our interest. We are a defensive alliance. We want to protect our way of life, our interests, our values, our cultures, our countries. That's what we are here to do, not to attack anyone. [Kristen Michal answer]
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