Fear rises, Russia ready to invade Ukraine

However, most still send their children to schools in Russian and attend Russian televisions and online media. A former interior minister, Raik was elected chairman in December, pledging to overcome the gap. A new Estonian-language high school will open in September. The economy, once dependent on the Soviet-era heavy industry, is now heading west. But Russia's military establishment on the Ukrainian border is reminding Navitti of its position. reports The Economist.

Opinion is divided along certain lines. Ethnic Estonians have named Russia aggressive, while ethnic Russians tend to think the danger of war was exaggerated or blamed NATO. Throughout Eastern Europe, the situation in Ukraine has caused fear to all. Most countries, including Estonia, are NATO members and see no danger from Russia. But Russian and Soviet expansionism has shaped their policy for decades, if not for centuries.

These days, many European-indones are at odds with the Kremlin on energy supplies or networks of corruption financed by Russia. Others have developed more friendly relations, assisted by trade, Russian-speaking minorities, or politicians who have good relations with Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia. But even in such countries, the crisis in Ukraine is causing problems.

The Baltic countries, which were part of the Soviet Union until 1991, are the strongest voices in preventing severe sanctions from being imposed.

“Interdependence means that you can hurt what is dependent on you”, according to Kaya Kallas, the prime minister of Estonia whose family was deported to Siberia under Stalin's leadership. Her government has pressured Germany not to approve the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia.

It is also trying to send weapons to Ukraine, but Germany has blocked the transport of German production equipment. On January 27th, Latvia's Defence Minister called the German stance <x0moral and hypocritical”.

Last summer, when Putin wrote an article claiming Ukraine was not a legitimate historical nation, alarm bells rang in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania because he had made similar arguments about them in the mid-20000s. Defence planners in these countries consider Russia an existential threat. “If Putin invades Ukraine, we are next”, a senior government official from a Baltic country said, abcnews reported. al

In Romania and Bulgaria, things are more complex. Both countries are members of NATO. But their policy is plagued by corruption, a part of it linked to Russia. Politicians have not always been enthusiastic about American politics and anti-corruption efforts with regional security. While Romanian politicians have been demanding for years that NATO increase the presence of forces, these Bulgarians tend to avoid deploying military troops to avoid provocations.

However, the two countries were angry when Russia asked on January 21st for NATO to withdraw allied forces from their territory. They have welcomed American proposals to deploy more troops to the border. It is in Central Europe that attitudes towards Russia are more ambitious.

Victor Orban, Hungary's populist prime minister, has a friendly relationship with Putin and will visit him in Moscow on 1 February. He has imitated Putin's government model, actually taking control of his country's media and judiciary and calling himself the defender of Christian Europe (against EU heathens, among other things.

He has acquired Russian nuclear power plants and has reached agreement on Russian gas bypassing Ukraine. His government has called for the EU to lift sanctions on Russia. Milos Zaman, president of the Czech Republic, also has a good relationship with Putin. In December, he delayed the election of the government led by Petr Fiala over his election to a pro-EU and anti-corruption foreign minister.

But Czech opinion has changed since last year's discovery that a depot of local ammunition was blown up in 2014 by Russian agents. Poland's government also has some closeness to Putin. She is conservative, religious and nationalist and is struggling with the EU for her efforts to turn judges into political pioneers.

However, it is the harshest anti-Russian government in Europe. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the ruling party, lost his brother -- then president -- in a plane accident in 2010, which he believes was caused by Russia.

Most importantly, the Russian Empire ruled most of Poland during the 19th century and tried to control its entire population. In World War II, Stalin divided Poland and executed most of its elite. Many Polish people see Russia as a country that tried to eliminate them as a nation.

Eastern European countries will pay an award for Russia's isolation. Their primary weakness is energy. In October, Moldova was forced to sign an expensive deal with Gazprom and the increase in electricity bills almost brought down Kallas' government in January, abcnews reports. al

But for Baltic countries alone, Russia is among the top five export markets. In no country are direct investments from Russia more than one tenth of that of the EU. In Narva, for example, about 30% of firms in the city's industrial zone are owned by the Russians, including Vadim Orlov, chairman of the area. Russian businessmen seek factories in a country governed by rule of law, where they cannot be stolen by individuals who have political ties.

Why should Estonia support severe sanctions that could make it difficult for its businesses that are owned by the Russians?

One possible reason is that Russia too likes to use sanctions, often abusively. Kallas mentions 2007 when Russia avenged the removal of a memorial for Soviet soldiers in Tallinn by cutting off fuel supply.

Dumitru Alaiba, a Moldovan MP, recalls 2014, when Russia imposed its embargo after signing an association agreement with the EU.

“We have learned that confronting Russia has risks”, Kallas said. If Eastern European ties with Russia become even weaker, Putin must blame himself.