The Estonian defense ministry has announced the arrival of an American infantry company as part of NATO’s presence in the country.
“A United States infantry company arrived in Estonia this week as part of NATO’s effort to bolster the military bloc’s eastern border with Russia, the Baltic country’s defense ministry has revealed.
A statement published on the ministry’s website on Friday said that U.S. service members are stationed at Taara base in the town of Voru, some 20 kilometers from the Russian border.
Commenting on the U.S. service members’ arrival, Colonel Mati Tikerpuu, the commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade of the Estonian Defense Forces, said he expects to be able to ‘integrate our allies on a brigade level and gain an additional maneuver unit’.
Colonel Richard Ikena, U.S. 1st Infantry Division Artillery Commander, said American troops are ‘excited to be in Estonia’ and ‘look forward to working shoulder-to-shoulder, alongside our Allies’.
The statement added that Washington is also expected to deploy a HIMARS platoon to Estonia along with associated command and control equipment and systems. Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said this would allow Estonian troops to ‘learn the ropes’ of operating the multiple-launch rocket systems before it receives its own HIMARS units by 2025.
Military officials in Tallinn put the need for an increased NATO presence in the country down to the ‘deteriorating security environment’ in Europe and to Russia’s ‘unprovoked aggression’ in Ukraine.
Moscow, in turn, has repeatedly condemned the buildup of the alliance’s forces on its borders and the funneling of arms into Ukraine, saying this will only prolong the conflict without changing the outcome”. -RT
The Estonian defense ministry stated that the arrival of U.S. service members is proof of Washington’s and Tallinn’s “shared values and interests”. Time-honored, sacred values such as multiculturalism, egalitarianism, corporatism, and whatever else is considered beholden to today’s oligarchic agenda must have been what the ministry was referencing.
Meanwhile, with the United States sending an infantry unit to a base just miles away from the Russian border in Estonia, it looks as though Washington, D.C., is going to provide a permanent presence in Tallinn to advance NATO's military aggression toward Russia.