Posted on 12/02/2015 2:06:33 PM PST by Krosan
Since Russia's involvement in the Ukraine conflict in 2014, nearby Baltic states have been on high alert. Estonia, the smallest country in the region, signed a military equipment deal worth 138 million euros ($147 million) last December - the largest procurement in its history.
The country also has a growing militia, known as the Estonian Defense League, made up of 15,000 volunteers. They take part in war scenario exercises, with many of the members keeping firearms of their own at home. Should Estonia's sovereignty be threatened, the militia will be called upon to defend it at all costs.
The organization's membership has risen by 10 percent since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, partly based on national Estonian fears that Russia will attempt to breach its eastern border. NATO has increased its fighter jets and ground troops in the country, as a show of what they say is support to its ally, yet Russia has claimed this is "provocative" and held its own military exercises near the border.
VICE News follows 800 members of the Estonian Defense League on a combat training exercise to find out how they are preparing for a possible confrontation. We also meet with US NATO air support and speak to ethnic Russians in the Estonian border city of Narva.
Russia left 25 years ago. They have better things to do than taking over Estonia.
But I guess it will result in upping the economy becoming a army base for Nato. Signing up to be cannon fodder on the front line of a greedy Nato is dangerous.
Estonia’s got a long history with Russia. They fought a war against the Bolsheviks in 1918-19 to keep from being “liberated” by Lenin. Then they helped Latvia (to the south) fight for its freedom in 1919-20. In 1940 they were given to Russia by Hitler in the Molotov-Ribbentrop treaty, and the Russians spent a year arresting/killing/deporting around 10% of the population. When the Soviets came back in 1944 as Germany was collapsing, they took out another 10% (or more) of the population. There were still anti-Soviet guerrillas in the Estonian forests well into the 1950’s.
This has nothing to do with being NATO cannon fodder. They just don’t intent to go down without a fight.
Estonia is one of the 6 NATO members who actually meets the NATO spending goal as % of their GDP. Also the militia volunteers shown in the documentary are in addition to that as they don’t get paid.
I wonder if they’ve considered the Swiss model?
The model is similar to Finnish. Professional defense forces plus mandatory 8-11 month military training with periodic refreshment training for every healthy male, who would be mobilized at war time.
The volunteers in this video are the ones who want more training than just the mandatory one. They can also keep automatic rifles at home. Otherwise civilian ownership of automatic rifles is forbidden.
That makes sense to do. No Romney or Sununu type exceptions; every male serves.
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