Estonia’s Outsized Commitment to Ukraine

1. TAPA CENTRAL TRAINING AREA, Estonia – Estonian CV90 Infantry fighting vehicles hold their position in the woods here, May 9, 2021, as U.S. Army and Estonian Defense Force Soldiers of Bravo Company, Scouts Battalion prepare to train together for follow-on missions. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Ian Fischer)

In National Review, Jay Nordlinger details the outsized commitment to Ukraine’s war efforts against the Russian invasion by Estonia, a small Baltic country that used to be part of the Soviet Union. Debbie and I have visited Estonia and have long been fans of the country. Nordlinger writes:

• Here is an article about Estonia — Estonia and Ukraine — by Michael Weiss, of New Lines.

Estonia has donated almost 40% of its annual military budget to Ukraine and more than 0.8% of its gross domestic product, higher than any other nation per capita. It is a contribution made all the more impressive when one considers that Spain, a much larger and wealthier country, hasn’t given Ukraine a single item of heavy weaponry in 2022. Estonia has provided howitzers, armored personnel carriers, mine-resistant vehicles and hundreds of Javelin anti-tank missiles.

• I would like to credit the essayist, but the essay appears in The Economist, which does without bylines. In any case, an outstanding essay, powerful in explanation: “Vladimir Putin is in thrall to a distinctive brand of Russian fascism: That is why his country is such a threat to Ukraine, the West and his own people.”