TALLINN — Will NATO’s overtures to Russia result in a warmer rapport between Estonia and Russia?

Diplomatic relations between the old foes Estonia and Russia have been tense for the past few years. However, during this week’s NATO summit in Tallinn the alliance made clear that it wants better relations between all its member states and Russia.

Estonia and Russia share a troubled history, and the April 2007 when ethnic Russian riots in response to the [private_supervisor]removal of Tallinn’s Bronze Soldier monument exacerbated latent hostility between the two countries. In response, the Kremlin allegedly coordinated a 2007 hacker attack on the Estonian government Internet systems, causing them to crash. Meanwhile Estonia has also been the loudest critic of Russia’s Nord Stream project among the Baltic states, citing environmental concerns.

Whether Estonia is ready to put these incidents in the past remains to be seen. While President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is planning on attending of the May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow as sign of friendship, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip reportedly refused to shake the hand of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a recent summit in Finland.

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet said that along with other NATO members Estonia is ready for further cooperation with Russia on stabilizing Afghanistan and fighting terrorism and the drug trade. However, Paet insisted that the relations between Russia and NATO  largely depend on political will of both sides given remaining differences between the alliance’s and Russia’s geopolitical aims.

“There are still many fundamental issues on which NATO and Russia have very different viewpoints,” said Paet.

The conference was not without criticism of Russia’s foreign policy. NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen criticized the Russian new military doctrine saying that it does not reflect the real world

“It states that NATO constitutes a major danger which is not the reality so I would urge the Russians to forget the Cold War rhetoric,” Rasmussen said. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]removal of Tallinn’s Bronze Soldier monument exacerbated latent hostility between the two countries. In response, the Kremlin allegedly coordinated a 2007 hacker attack on the Estonian government Internet systems, causing them to crash. Meanwhile Estonia has also been the loudest critic of Russia’s Nord Stream project among the Baltic states, citing environmental concerns.

Whether Estonia is ready to put these incidents in the past remains to be seen. While President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is planning on attending of the May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow as sign of friendship, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip reportedly refused to shake the hand of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a recent summit in Finland.

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet said that along with other NATO members Estonia is ready for further cooperation with Russia on stabilizing Afghanistan and fighting terrorism and the drug trade. However, Paet insisted that the relations between Russia and NATO largely depend on political will of both sides given remaining differences between the alliance’s and Russia’s geopolitical aims.

“There are still many fundamental issues on which NATO and Russia have very different viewpoints,” said Paet.

The conference was not without criticism of Russia’s foreign policy. NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen criticized the Russian new military doctrine saying that it does not reflect the real world

“It states that NATO constitutes a major danger which is not the reality so I would urge the Russians to forget the Cold War rhetoric,” Rasmussen said. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]removal of Tallinn’s Bronze Soldier monument exacerbated latent hostility between the two countries. In response, the Kremlin allegedly coordinated a 2007 hacker attack on the Estonian government Internet systems, causing them to crash. Meanwhile Estonia has also been the loudest critic of Russia’s Nord Stream project among the Baltic states, citing environmental concerns.

Whether Estonia is ready to put these incidents in the past remains to be seen. While President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is planning on attending of the May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow as sign of friendship, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip reportedly refused to shake the hand of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a recent summit in Finland.

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet said that along with other NATO members Estonia is ready for further cooperation with Russia on stabilizing Afghanistan and fighting terrorism and the drug trade. However, Paet insisted that the relations between Russia and NATO largely depend on political will of both sides given remaining differences between the alliance’s and Russia’s geopolitical aims.

“There are still many fundamental issues on which NATO and Russia have very different viewpoints,” said Paet.

The conference was not without criticism of Russia’s foreign policy. NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen criticized the Russian new military doctrine saying that it does not reflect the real world

“It states that NATO constitutes a major danger which is not the reality so I would urge the Russians to forget the Cold War rhetoric,” Rasmussen said. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]removal of Tallinn’s Bronze Soldier monument exacerbated latent hostility between the two countries. In response, the Kremlin allegedly coordinated a 2007 hacker attack on the Estonian government Internet systems, causing them to crash. Meanwhile Estonia has also been the loudest critic of Russia’s Nord Stream project among the Baltic states, citing environmental concerns.

Whether Estonia is ready to put these incidents in the past remains to be seen. While President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is planning on attending of the May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow as sign of friendship, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip reportedly refused to shake the hand of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a recent summit in Finland.

Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet said that along with other NATO members Estonia is ready for further cooperation with Russia on stabilizing Afghanistan and fighting terrorism and the drug trade. However, Paet insisted that the relations between Russia and NATO largely depend on political will of both sides given remaining differences between the alliance’s and Russia’s geopolitical aims.

“There are still many fundamental issues on which NATO and Russia have very different viewpoints,” said Paet.

The conference was not without criticism of Russia’s foreign policy. NATO Secretary General Andres Fogh Rasmussen criticized the Russian new military doctrine saying that it does not reflect the real world

“It states that NATO constitutes a major danger which is not the reality so I would urge the Russians to forget the Cold War rhetoric,” Rasmussen said. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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