Estonia’s Director General of Foreign Intelligence, Kaupo Rosin, has cautioned that for the next 10 to 20 years, NATO will have to focus on containing Russia so that this potential military aggression does not come towards the West. Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday, Rosin said that despite Russia’s denial of having plans to attack NATO member states, it is vital for the alliance to keep its guard up and to invest in defense to stop Russia from even thinking of such ambitions.
Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, Estonia has almost tripled its defense expenditures, which currently account for 3.4 percent of GDP, ranking Estonia as the second-largest defence spender in NATO. Taxation has also been increased for the stockpiling of ammunition to bolster military readiness in response to the ratcheting up of tension with the superpower neighbor from the east.
He emphasized, “The challenge to NATO in the next 10-20 years is going to be to continue containing or deterring Russia from getting any stupid idea of pushing toward the West militarily.” He again made it clear that he considered it necessary for NATO forces to have credible military plans in place with sufficient armed and ammunition forces.
Admitting that Russia might not come to the negotiating table over Ukraine anytime soon, Rosin warned that Moscow would seek to restrict the presence and infrastructure of NATO near its borders, particularly in Eastern Europe.
In addition to his concerns about Russia, Rosin also mentioned other potential security threats from Chinese technology. He sounded alarms regarding the possibility of China dominating critical infrastructure, like solar inverters, if Estonia does not take action to bar Chinese tech from vital sectors. Rosin’s warning finds resonance with the wider concern within NATO regarding both Russia and China as potential security and infrastructure threats.
