Estonia calls for strengthening internal security on par with defense
In Estonia, internal security must be strengthened on par with military defense, as hostile activity may begin before an open crisis and be carried out through non-military methods. This is stated in an opinion column published by ERR News.
The author recalled the case concerning suspected sabotage against the Estonian defense company Milrem Robotics on the night of August 15. According to him, three suspects who planned to set the company on fire were already in the custody of the Latvian police a few days later. The investigation is ongoing: investigators must determine whether they acted in the interests of a particular state or organization.
Non-military threats
In the author’s opinion, Estonia’s security situation is significantly affected by external political, socio-economic and technological factors, as well as the activities of foreign states and transnational non-state organizations. He named Russia, as an aggressor state, the main threat to European security. Other risks mentioned in the column include violent extremist and terrorist groups, as well as international criminal organizations and networks.
The author believes that hostile states may use the vulnerabilities of open democratic societies to collect intelligence, influence society or individual groups, and create conditions for a crisis or support a military operation. In his assessment, military capabilities alone cannot neutralize such risks.
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The role of security services
The author named two components of national security: reducing strategic vulnerabilities and being prepared to detect and prevent hostile activity. Among measures to reduce Estonia’s vulnerabilities, he included the transition to education in Estonian, visa restrictions, restrictions on real estate purchases by citizens of aggressor states, as well as modern requirements for the continuity and security of vital and digital services.
In his assessment, the Estonian Internal Security Service and the Police and Border Guard Board play a key role in countering threats. Counterintelligence, border protection, migration monitoring, and countering hostile influence operations, terrorism and sabotage, the author noted, require modern legal powers, technological capabilities and stable funding.
He also stressed that in a digital society, detecting and proving such crimes increasingly depends on technology and digital traces. At the same time, law enforcement access to data, as well as oversight of its use, must be proportionate.
