Estonia's historical experience & resilience

Active Measures

In this episode, we'll look at how our allies on NATO's eastern flank have been the targets and victims of Russian operations for nearly a century.

Marcus Kolga travels to Tallin in Estonia to meet with Estonian Member of Parliament, Eerik-Niiles Kross, to talk about how his country has endured, how it continues to be targeted, and what we might learn from the Estonians. Eerik was the chief of Estonia's intelligence services, and in 2008 he helped direct Georgia's counter propaganda operations. During the Russian invasion in 2018 Politico named him to their list of most influential Europeans, calling him the Baltic James Bond. Marcus starts by asking Eerik about Russia's decision to add him, Estonia's Prime Minister, and other ministers to its entry ban list. The Kremlin justified this by falsely accusing them of persecuting Estonia's Russian-speaking population, rewriting history, and promoting what it calls Russophobia—a historically familiar accusation recycled by the Kremlin against its challengers.