The German radio station Deutschlandfunk, in its program "Europa heute," conducted a live interview with journalist Peter Savitsky, who is at the "Spring Storm" exercises. He revealed that only 2000 foreign soldiers are stationed in Estonia and that the country has no own fighter aviation.
Deutschlandfunk correspondent for Eastern Europe Peter Savitsky noted that NATO's presence in Lithuania is significantly larger. In particular, a German tank brigade will be stationed in Lithuania, while foreign troops in Estonia are deployed on a rotational basis for only a few months.
"Currently, there are 2000 NATO foreign soldiers in Estonia," Savitsky noted, adding that the airspace over the Baltics is patrolled by allies, as Estonia, including for economic reasons, does not have its own fighters.
Savitsky told German radio listeners that the "Spring Storm" exercises are taking place just 30 kilometers from the Russian border, and one of their goals is to deter possible aggression from Russia. In his estimation, drones, artificial intelligence, and lessons learned from the war in Ukraine play a much larger role in the current exercises than before.
According to Savitsky, at the same time, voices are being raised in Estonia from politicians who believe that the presence of allies is insufficient and would like to see a larger NATO unit in the country on a permanent basis, similar to Lithuania.
At the same time, French soldiers present at the exercises noted that the rotation system has a positive side: it allows a greater number of NATO servicemen to understand the security situation in the Baltic countries and recognize the threat posed by Russia.
