Thousands take part in Estonia's war games

For more than a week now, the birch forests and heaths across Estonia have echoed with gunfire, explosions and the heavy crump of artillery.

The tiny Baltic state, sandwiched between Russia and the sea, is holding the largest war games of its independent history and one of the biggest held by Nato since the end of the cold war.

Eight Nato states, including the US, UK, Poland and Germany, are participating and have sent weaponry ranging from advanced anti-aircraft systems to A10 "Warthog" ground-attack planes and Abrams battle tanks.

But the drills are really Estonia's affair. It has deployed 13,000 troops in the live-fire exercises, of which 7,000 have been conscripted out of ordinary civilian jobs as part of the country's national reserve.

In striking contrast to the populations of other Nato countries, there is huge public support for these exercises. A year-long national TV advertising campaign has urged businesses and employers to take part. One reservist paid €1,700 of his money to fly back from Australia to take part.

"I come from a military family - fighting for my country is in my blood," says 24-year-old Raido Reinsalu, whose father fought for Russia's Red Army. "Doing this is very important. We all support it. Everyone I know."

Martin Naggel, who will miss the deadline for his master's thesis at Tartu university because he has been called up, adds: "The most important thing about the exercises is that the will to defend our country is really strong."

In the war-game scenario, Aslavia, a fictional, brutish power on Estonia's border has invaded.

Over the past week, airfields have dealt with simulated bombing runs, troops have faced off against tanks and mobile infantry and howitzers have pummelled the ground on ranges deep in Estonia's countryside.

Though planning for exercise Siil - Estonian for hedgehog: the campaign's motto is "every spine counts" - began well before Russia's war with Ukraine, there is little doubt that Russia is in the mind of many participants.

"It's not in response to what is happening in Ukraine, but obviously it has gained additional poignancy in light of what's been happening there," says Sven Mikser, Estonia's minister of defence.

"The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a reminder to us all that Russia remains really aggressive . . . the aggression was a wake-up call to the major allies in the western world in general of the nature of Putin's regime."

<

The tabular content relating to this article is not available to view. Apologies in advance for the inconvenience caused.

"Nato nations should understand that Article 5 [the article of collective defence] is important but it can only function if Article 3 is taken seriously which says that every nation needs to be able to defend itself," said Lt Gen Riho Terras, chief of Estonia's defence forces.

Estonia - a country with no planes of its own - depends on big Nato powers, particularly those in Europe, to pay for the kind of expensive capabilities that it cannot, Gen Terras adds.

Estonian businesses have stood behind the effort too. "Danske Bank is part of Estonian society and so are our employees," said Aivar Rehe, the chief executive of Danske Bank's Estonian branch. Eight Danske Bank employees are taking part in the exercises.

"Our board decided that our employees will take part in the exercises so they will not have to use their vacation or lose their salary." The bank also seconds its employees regularly to Estonia's cyber defence training efforts, Mr Rehe added.

"We never thought before we might have to do something like this," said Erik Sakkov, a director at Tallinn airport. Ten of the airport's employees have been drafted. "But we take the view that if people need to go then they should go. Defending the country is such an important thing. Everyone has to do something."

This article was amended on May 13 to clarify the quote from Raido Reinsalu

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation