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President Ilves: the current security situation requires a new way of thinking

22.04.2014

Today, at a charity dinner organised by the Carolin Illenzeer Foundation, the President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves stated that the activities of Russia in Ukraine have brought deterrence to the forefront for democratic countries.

President Ilves emphasised that the new situation will require us to adopt a new way of thinking: "Deterrence has become an important key word in this new situation – this has to be convincing and specific. The visible and long-term presence of NATO and the allies in the Baltic states is one component of deterrence. The other component is the attitude of our own people. The current complicated station must not be used to achieve the goals of political parties and personal domestic policy, particularly in light of the upcoming elections. Behaviour that is characteristic of a statesman is expected as the situation becomes serious, both from the government and opposition politicians."

According to the Head of State, the crisis in Ukraine and annexing of Crimea by Russia has resulted in a completely new security policy situation: "The world regime that relied upon respect for the territorial sovereignty of countries and the belief that relations can be built upon common, shared values have collapsed. The Helsinki Accords, adopted at the Conference of Security and Co-operation in Europe in 1975 in Helsinki – providing that frontiers must not be violated with aggression – is no longer valid following the annexing of Crimea."

The Head of State described psychological defence, which must be stronger in society, as the third component. "We must not act upon political provocations. Words have power and psychological war is a component of any war." He emphasised that regardless of political and ideological convictions the politicians of today will be remembered for their ability to cope with the security crisis.

President Ilves recalled that the Republic of Estonia includes all our people: "Not just the government, not just the Defence Forces and not only the President. Estonia is a creation shared by every one of us, and we are all responsible for Estonia. We all take part in defending our country, but also in creating our own, internal atmosphere of security. I am also still convinced that Estonia's place in the world is better secured today than ever before. We have a strong will to protect, and we have strong allies."

The Carolin Illenzeer Foundation was established in 2011 and serves the purpose of collecting monetary and non-monetary donations to support the children of the Estonian defence force members who were killed in action, have died or have been seriously injured. Approximately 250 people were present at today's charity dinner at the Seaplane Harbour; they all supported the education and hobby activities of the children of Estonian defence force members who have died or were seriously injured in action.

The full text of the speech by the President is available at here.

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