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Tag: Estonia

Estonia’s road to comprehensive security

Since regaining independence in 1991, Estonia has undergone a rapid and determined transformation, embracing modernization, democracy and western integration. Yet its path to NATO membership and security reform was anything but straightforward, as it was shaped by regional geopolitics, western hesitations, and the lessons of Nordic neighbours.

Social modernization has progressed at an unrelenting pace since Estonia restored its independence alongside its Baltic neighbours Latvia and Lithuania in 1991. At the outset in the 1990s and early 2000s, Estonia, like many other Central and Eastern European aspirants for European Union and NATO membership, was criticized by its western neighbours for following an overly “modernist” outlook on security policy.

July 8, 2025 - Eoin Micheál McNamara

The Tallinn question

As Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continues, the question of whether NATO and the EU would come to the aid of the Baltic states becomes increasingly important. With an increase in US rhetoric concerning a potential withdrawal, it is now more pivotal than ever that allies commit to defending these small democratic states.

July 2, 2025 - Alexander Strelkov Chris McGivern Natalia Wojtowicz-Zwarts

All for one and one for all against disinformation to protect democracy

Democratic politics has a key responsibility to prevent extreme societal polarization and divisive culture wars, which create fertile ground for malicious interference and deception. While Russia and China actively spread disinformation to undermine open societies, what should a European response to the deadly threat of disinformation look like?

February 28, 2025 - Anna Beitane Caroline Dufy Cécile Dolbeau-Bandin Stefano Braghiroli

The impact of NATO membership on national security: a 25-year retrospective

Estonia’s accession to NATO in 2004 marked a historical moment that solidified the commitment to collective defence and enhanced security against potential threats, particularly from Russia. NATO membership has undeniably served as a cornerstone in shaping the security landscape of Estonia over the past 25 years.

September 16, 2024 - Nele Loorents

Making the invisible seen. The Baltic struggle for independence

A conversation with Una Bergmane, author of Politics of Uncertainty: The United States, the Baltic Question, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union. Interviewer: Maciek Makulski

MACIEJ MAKULSKI: How did you arrive at the point when you thought that there is still much to uncover when it comes to our understanding of the processes around the collapse of the Soviet Union and the regaining of independence by the Baltic states?

UNA BERGMANE: I would probably say by accident, since I wanted to write a master's thesis about French-Baltic relations in the 1920s and 30s when the Baltic states were independent before the Soviet occupation. But then I discovered that there was already a doctoral dissertation just defended in Paris on that very topic. So I started then to look at what seemed like the next logical thing – what France did when the Baltic countries wanted to become independent again at the end of the 1980s. What was interesting for me initially was the discrepancy between what I saw in the French archives.

June 22, 2024 - Maciej Makulski Una Bergmane

A central and eastern EU elections summary

While the results of the EU parliamentary elections in Central and Eastern Europe did not lead to political upheaval as seen in France, it is becoming clear that the far-right representation in Strasbourg will increase from this part of Europe.

June 11, 2024 - Ottilie Tabberer

While Western Europeans smell smoke, we see fire

General Martin Herem, commander of the Estonian Armed Forces, explains how Estonia is preparing for possible aggression from Russia and why its approach may differ from the other Baltic countries. Interviewer: Rasa Tapinienė, journalist with LRT.

May 10, 2024 - LRT Martin Herem Rasa Tapinienė

Estonia aims to help Europe’s rare earth supply chain

Once a Soviet-era uranium processing plant, the Silmet factory in Sillamäe, Estonia, is now Europe’s leading processor of rare earths. Silmet’s mother company, Toronto-headquartered Neo Preformance Materials, aims to establish the continent’s first manufacturer of high performance magnets for European consumers. These “permanent magnets” have the potential to make a huge impact in the European electric car and offshore wind-turbine industries, which up until now were exclusively dependent on supplies from an increasingly less reliable source – China.

It was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when China's borders temporarily closed, that something clicked in Raivo Vasnu’s mind. Silmet, the factory he heads in Sillamäe, Estonia is a former Soviet uranium-processing facility in Europe’s north-easternmost tip near the Russian border. It is also Europe’s largest processor of rare earths, a crucial category of elements necessary for a wide range of technologies, including electric cars and wind turbine technologies.

February 7, 2024 - Isabelle de Pommereau

The spirit of Estonia’s tradition of song

The Estonian song festival, Laulupidu, has taken place every five years for over 150 years. It is one of the largest choral events in the world and involves almost all of Estonia. The festival embraces the power of singing, which has become a national symbol for Estonia, especially in the most troubling of times.

That recent stormy night in Europe’s eastern frontier still reverberates for a 19-year-old student and much of her country. It happened during the closing hour of Laulupidu, Estonia’s biggest national gathering, a quinquennial choral event that had helped Estonia free itself from communism. Under pouring rain that July 2nd, before a crowd, Hanna Grete Rebane stood in a choir of 23,000 young Estonians singing poetic verses about yearning for one’s homeland despite hardships. As darkness began to settle, the audience began to sway with the singers; people held hands and wept, waving the Estonia flag.

September 11, 2023 - Isabelle de Pommereau

“What happens in Ukraine will have an immediate effect on us”

Interview with Martin Helme, leader of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE). Interviewer: Daniel Jarosak

August 3, 2023 - Daniel Jarosak Martin Helme

Estonia’s urban-rural divide: Cracks at home become a chasm abroad

Many saw Prime Minister Kaja Kallas’ victory in Estonia’s recent election as a win for European liberalism in challenging times. Despite this, the country’s urban and rural areas are now divided more than ever. This result reflects a wider, continental trend.

June 14, 2023 - Samuel Kramer

“This was an election campaign dominated by the context of the war in Ukraine”

An interview with Stefano Braghiroli, Associate Professor of European Studies at the University of Tartu. Interviewer: Maciej Makulski.

June 12, 2023 - Maciej Makulski Stefano Braghiroli

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