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| 'The Battle for Ukraine is Lost.' Estonians Find Out Why They Went Against the Will of the US |
| 2024-09-27 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Victor Lavrinenko [REGNUM] A scandal has broken out in Estonian political circles and has been raging for a week now. On September 18, in New York, during a vote, the Estonian delegation supported the UN General Assembly resolution calling on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories. In doing so, Tallinn went against the will of Washington, which voted against it. And now numerous US proxies in the echelons of Estonian power are trying to identify the authors of this “sabotage” and bring them to justice. SURPRISE VOTE 124 countries voted for the resolution in support of Palestine in the UN, 43 abstained and 12 countries voted against, including Israel and the United States. Among those who voted in favor was the Republic of Estonia. Meanwhile, there has long been a consensus on foreign policy in this country: in the UN, Tallinn votes in accordance with other EU countries, but if the votes within the EU are divided, then Estonia is guided by the position of the United States. Meanwhile, in this case, there was a division of opinion: some EU countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, Estonia, Latvia, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Ireland and Malta) supported the “Palestinian” resolution, some abstained (Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden), and some were against (Hungary, Czech Republic). That is, in this case, Estonia should have voted the same way as the US, but it did not. It should be noted that in May of this year, Estonia voted for expanding the powers of Palestine in the UN General Assembly - and also against the opinion of the US. Journalists began to besiege Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform Party) with demands to explain whether Estonia's votes on the Palestinian issue mean that Tallinn has reconsidered its foreign policy. Michal refused to explain, but his advisor Elisabeth Waldmann said that the opinion of the Estonian Foreign Ministry corresponds to the position of the entire government. In turn, the chairman of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson (Reform Party) addressed the Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Estonia 200). He told him that the refusal to comply with the "agreed rules" in foreign policy is "a very big threat to our security." Mihkelson recalled that Estonia does not recognize Palestine as an independent state and added that “ Hamas, which is more popular in the Palestinian territories, must cease its terrorist activities and abandon the goal of destroying the State of Israel.” Tsahkna 's predecessor as Minister of Foreign Affairs, the chairman of the most influential opposition party, Pro Patria, Urmas Reinsalu, also came out with sharp criticism. In his opinion, if Estonia had simply abstained from voting, no one would have paid attention. By voting in support of Palestine, the country acted "unwisely" and "irrationally." Estonian media began to ask thoughtfully: “Is this not evidence that Estonia is developing a new foreign policy line towards the Middle East, which the public is not being told about?” MPS DEMAND EXPLANATIONS The Foreign Ministry presented its explanations, but they sounded rather vague. Minister Tsahkna, who brought up the topic of “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” vaguely stated that “our policy cannot accept double standards,” that Estonia “follows international law,” and that “we must have a very clear independent foreign policy, which is, of course, based on the global situation.” Mikhelson understood this empty talk to mean that by voting on the Palestinian issue, the ministry is trying to gain the trust of Arab countries and encourage them to “condemn Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.” Mikhelson himself, in his words, does not support such “rhetoric of double standards.” The Estonian parliament's parliamentary group on relations with Israel made a loud statement on this matter. The group includes nine politicians, and is headed by Reform Party member Eerik-Niiles Kross, an extremely interesting personality whose "exploits" are still awaiting description. Kross, on assignment from the Estonian government, was involved in various special operations in the post-Soviet space. He was not averse to outright robbery either - the Russian prosecutor's office accused him of organizing the pirate seizure of the Russian timber carrier "Arctic Sea" in the Baltic Sea in 2009. Currently, Eerik-Niiles Kross is known as one of the most ardent supporters of the "derussification" of Estonia. The parliamentary group he leads condemned the activities of its own Foreign Ministry in the UN General Assembly. According to Kross and his colleagues, Estonia "voted for a resolution that presented the State of Israel with a series of unrealistic ultimatums and which, in essence, called on the world's states to impose an embargo on arms supplies to Israel." Meanwhile, according to the group members, “Israel and Estonia maintain friendly relations, cooperate in the area of defense and share values, respect for which there are serious problems both in the territory of Palestine and in a number of other states that submitted the resolution.” The deputies stressed that during the September 18 vote, Estonia found itself in the same camp as countries such as North Korea, Russia, Belarus, China and Iran. The group members found a glaring contradiction in the fact that the Estonian Foreign Ministry simultaneously votes in the UN in support of Palestine and, through the mouth of the Foreign Minister, condemns Hamas as a terrorist organization. The former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, now a member of the European Parliament Marina Kaljurand (Social Democratic Party of Estonia), also demanded an explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Kaljurand rejected Tsahkna's argument that Tallinn's support for Palestine would help turn Arab states against Russia - she frankly said that the way Estonia votes will not have a significant impact on the situation. Moreover, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, as they say, "gave away the facts." She said: "As for condemning Russian aggression, in my opinion, the diplomatic war has already been lost." Kaljurand complained that now many representatives of the international community "follow the Kremlin's narratives that this is a war between Russia and the United States, that this is a war between Russia and NATO, where naive Ukrainians are being used." According to the former minister, neither small Estonia nor the entire European Union is able to change this opinion. “I claim that the diplomatic battle over Ukraine has already been practically lost and it is almost impossible to change this,” Marina Kaljurand believes. CAVING IN UNDER THE PRESSURE In the end, the combined pressure of influential politicians did its job – on September 25, the Estonian government announced that it would discuss the Foreign Ministry’s “change of opinion” regarding the Middle East crisis. “The Prime Minister briefly noted that the Foreign Minister had been invited to the government to explain himself,” Postimees reported on Wednesday. Tsahkna's colleague in the government and the Estonia 200 party, Education Minister Kristina Kallas, spoke in defense of Tsahkna. She said that the change in Estonia's foreign policy on the Palestinian issue had been agreed upon during the previous government, which was headed by Kaja Kallas. According to the head of the Ministry of Education, the claims that Tsahkna is acting arbitrarily in this matter are "ugly." She did not give a clear answer to the TV presenter’s question: was Kaja Kallas trying to enlist the help of European politicians who support Palestine (in particular, French President Emmanuel Macron ) in achieving a high post in the European Commission? Ultimately, the education minister tried to turn to her favorite Ukrainian theme. "The international situation is becoming more and more difficult, the possibility of supporting Ukraine is also becoming more difficult. I believe that this is the right direction - to carefully consider the voting methods so that our main goal, concerning the victory of Ukraine and its support, remains a priority," said Kristina Kallas. Overall, of course, Estonia's attempt to help Kyiv by ingratiating itself with the Arab states by voting on the Palestinian issue in a way that is pleasing to them looks rather anecdotal. But this situation also demonstrated the precariousness and instability of the current Estonian government. After all, in just a few days, Prime Minister Kristen Michal managed to first take the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs under his protection, and now, having caved in to the opinion of a number of politicians, he is calling him “on the carpet” for an explanation. Which does not contribute to Michal’s authority, who is already very unpopular in his homeland. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #3 "the echelons of Estonian power" I got a chuckle out of that for some reason. OT - Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the sinking of the ferry "Estonia". If you want another sicko fishy event to research, this might be one for you. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2024-09-27 18:08 |
| #2 ^You recall wrong. Latvian |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-09-27 10:10 |
| #1 As I recall, Lenin at first made use of an Estonian unit as his bodyguard. A death wish seems common among the Estonian people. |
| Posted by: S MAI 2024-09-27 08:58 |