‘Transatlantic Cooperation Is Independent of Who Is in Office in US’ – Estonian Undersecretary for Political Affairs

Martin Roger, undersecretary for political affairs from Estonia’s foreign ministry, reiterated his country’s support for Ukraine and said Tallinn would continue to work with the upcoming US administration following the US elections, regardless of who’s in office. 

Roger previously worked as Estonia’s Director General for NATO and Transatlantic Relations.

Kyiv Post discussed Estonia’s role in NATO, threats posed by Russia, and Tallinn’s plans with Washinton after the Nov. 5 US elections with Roger during the sidelines of Thursday’s Kyiv International Economic Forum (KIEF).

Estonia’s role in NATO, approach to Ukraine

Roger said Estonia “[supports] Ukraine in many ways as much as [they] can.”

“[Russia’s war] is a direct, significant and long-term threat to European security, to NATO [and] to the European Union. That’s the perception. We then shape our policies [by] working hand-in-hand with our allies and also with our partners,” Roger said.

He called NATO’s Article 5, which stipulates that an attack on one member is an attack on all, a “bedrock” of the alliance’s collective security and that the bloc is currently spending more on defense to counter threats coming from Russia.

“Currently, we had agreed that 2% [of national GDP] is the minimum, but clearly, more is needed. So we aim at all allies spending 2% or even more, given the needs that the alliance has.

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“[...] Actually in the last summit of NATO in Washington, NATO has assumed the bigger role in coordinating assistance and training for Ukraine [and] its defense forces. So basically the defense deterrence, Russia’s threat supporting Ukraine, increasing defense expenditure – [those are] the focus for us,” Roger said.

He also reiterated Estonia’s support for Ukraine’s NATO bid.

“In Washington, we said that Ukraine’s path to NATO is irreversible, which means that there is a commitment – an understanding that Ukraine’s future is in NATO. This is something that we have been advocating for a very long time already, starting from 2008, [when] the alliance for the first time said that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.

“What we try to do is to integrate Ukraine as much as possible with different structures with the alliance. And I talked about NATO’s bigger role in integrating Ukraine as a close partner, delivering more assistance, weapons training,” he added.

Countering threats from Russia

When asked about how Estonia is countering threats from Russia across Europe, considering rising reports of Russian espionage and disinformation campaigns across the continent, Roger said Estonia is working with its allies through information sharing.

“I think we have to start from understanding the threat  [...] and that starts from information sharing so that we’re on the same page in terms of what we’re up against,” he said, adding that Moscow has attempted to “sow confusion [and] tensions” to undermine Western support for Ukraine.

He said one way Tallinn and its allies counter the risks is by increasing societal resilience and curbing movements of hostile actors in the Schengen area “so that they cannot further their goals.”

“For example, in the EU we have also adopted a new sanctions regime that will enable us to sanction people who are undertaking those hybrid attacks against [the] European Union [and] also our partners,” he added.

Inside Estonia, he said Russia has utilized disinformation campaigns “for decades,” where some are undertaken by their own citizens, but work is ongoing to ensure “societal resilience and societal cohesion” to prevent “breeding grounds for any cracks or tensions” within Estonian society.

On cooperation with Washington after Trump’s victory

When prompted by Kyiv Post about his visions on whether Donald Trump’s victory in the latest US elections would have an impact on Ukraine, NATO and Estonia, Roger said the “transatlantic cooperation” remains unchanged, regardless of who is in the Oval Office.

“Looking at our interest, and our interest towards [the] US, towards transatlantic cooperation … is independent of who is in office in the US,” Roger said before acknowledging that the US makes an “important contribution” to Estonian security.

However, he said it’s “too early to tell” how the new administration will impact Ukraine, and Estonia will continue to work with “both sides of the aisle” to maintain cooperation with the new administration.

“We will definitely make efforts to reach out to the new people as well in the administration. We have always tried through our interlocutors in Washington to speak to both sides of the aisle, be it in Congress or elsewhere,” Roger said.