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Russia Issues Arrest Warrant for Estonian PM
Putin’s hatred for Estonia could potentially tilt us into a war with Russia.
Vladimir Putin despises Estonia. There is something in their lack of gratitude for “saving” them from the Nazis during World War II that really gets under his waxy skin. The Kremlin has just decided to up the ante by putting Estonia’s prime minister, Kaja Kallas, on an international wanted list.
I want to believe that Ms. Kallas is safe sitting in her official residence in Tallinn, the tiny nation’s charming capital, but given Putin’s historical disgust for Estonians, something inside of me makes me fear that this arrest warrant could be used as both a way for Moscow to increase pressure on the U.S. to stop supporting Ukraine; and, as a way for Moscow to aggressively reassert itself in the Baltic Region, which the Kremlin has always regarded as a “near abroad” a la out own Monroe Doctrine.
The population of Estonia is 1.3 million, of which 24 percent are ethnic Russians. Many of these Russian-speaking people remained in Estonia after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Others have arrived from Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine over the years. Putin has used Russian propaganda and state-controlled media for nearly two decades to fan nationalistic flames against Tallinn. Right around when…
