Estonian PM Kallas: Russia is conducting 'shadow war' on West

Russia is waging a "shadow war" on the West, and there must be a coordinated response, the Associated Press wrote on May 22, citing comments from Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

Kallas said she was concerned that some other European leaders have not viewed the uptick in incidents of sabotage and arrest of suspected spies across the EU to be interconnected.

The West needs to have a "serious discussion of a coordinated approach" to counter the Russian threat, she said.

"How far do we let them go on our soil?"

There have been several episodes linked to Russian security services in 2024 in Estonia alone, such as Russia's ongoing jamming of GPS signals on commercial flights across the Baltic region.

Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in April that GPS jamming was "too dangerous to ignore."

Kallas said that she had three requests to her European allies: "the recognition that these are not isolated events, second, that we share information about this amongst ourselves, (and) third, (to) make it as public as we can."

As more of these incidents are uncovered, Russia has been shifting tactics, Kallas said, and is using spies who pose as diplomats "all the time."

Russia's aim is to "sow fear" in Europe and hinder support for Ukraine, she said.

Estonia has been one of the leading military donors to Ukraine in terms of share of GDP since the beginning of the all-out war in 2022. Kallas and other Estonian politicians have also been particularly outspoken about the threat that Russia poses to Europe.

Read also: Largest NATO cyber defense exercise begins in Estonia

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