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Estonian Cyber Defence Hub Set Up
w1z4rd writes "The BBC reports that seven Nato nations have backed a new cyber defence centre in Estonia, which last year blamed Russia for weeks of attacks on its internet structure. The US will initially send an observer to the project, which will have some 30 staff when fully operational in August."
Estonians have always rejected Russian interference in their affairs.
Do not downmod posts "overrated" simply because you disagree with them.
Well, Estonia is an independent nation and a member of NATO - how much more "encroachment" can this be?
And if you ask me, the rest of the world pays far too much attention to Russian whining about the lost glories of their empire as it is. The Russian government deliberately and systematically attacked Estonia's infrastructure last year - now NATO should place the defence hub somewhere else so as to be sensitive to Russian feelings? Ridiculous.
Estonians should get real and find the ways to cooperate with Russia, not to pretend that Russia does not exist. You just can't deliberately ignore a 100 mln people living next to you, not to mention enraging them. You should account for their feelings when making political decisions.
And that does not mean that Estonia should give up its sovereignty. You just cannot be totally independent from your neighbours. Estonia is no island.
Coding etudes
Estonia, like many other Baltic nations and former Soviet satellite nations, are in the middle of a constant power struggle between East and West. Your argument comparing Oregon and Estonia is pretty much irrational, due to the fact that Oregon does not have the Russian foreign service trying to alter its foreign agenda. Russia, which has pretty much dominated Estonia and most other Baltic nations since the early 19th century, has become a resurgent power with expanding capabilities and has been using those resources to coerce its former vassals to move away from the influence of the EU. This can be accomplished in a number of ways, including utilizing cyber attacks on an emerging economy. For many nations, the Internet is a key tool in bringing their economies up to date and becoming competitive.
20th century Marxism is not progress...
if FREEDOM, as you put it, comes at a price of fighting on NAZI side - this is definitely NOT the kind of freedom quite a few of us see, and you can't buy that.
Security guru Bruce Schneier's Cryptogram newsletter has a good blurb on this issue and the topic of whether this was some disgruntled Estonian youths or was the "evil Russian gov't" that was responsible for the attacks.
Because I think Russia (and a lot of other places) use the argument "if country X is a bastard, then I can be one too". It's a stupid argument, and Russia and the US should defend their own actions without referring to others.
As far as this issue goes, I think Russia is getting over some self identity issues, and Estonia has aggravated this. Russia used to be a big empire, both under the Czars and the Communists, and this is part of the national psyche. So after the fall of the Soviet empire, there was some moves made to at least keep a sphere of influence. Also, Russians considered their country to be a hero and great liberator in World War 2. Another part of their national self esteem.
So now here's the loss of face issue: Estonia, who used to be a part of USSR, firmly within the desired Russian sphere of influence, rejects them. A country that Russians feel should be grateful, after all they were "liberated" from the Nazis and had many decades of Soviet control. But instead, the Russification hadn't taken hold and the Estonians actually joined NATO instead.
To the Russians, having a former "friend" join NATO is a major insult and a severe loss of face. Then it all blew up badly when a statue commemorating Soviet Occupation (or liberation, whatever) was moved.
(In parallels with the US, note that many people were pissed off that France didn't back us with the Iraq war, citing that the US had liberated them from the Nazis. Some quotes being "if it weren't for us, they'd be speaking German today". The parallel attitude being that if we helped you in the past, you should to be our toady today.)
Interesting to see a parallel with Finland. Both have a similar language. Both countries were part of the Swedish empire for a long time, then taken over by the Russian empire and had a period of Russification. Both declare independence after the Russian revolution, and both have Nazi and Soviet occupations. Finland though keeps independence after the war and acts as a buffer between the east and west, whereas Estonia was forcibly annexed during the war. So any talk of "Estonia was part of Russia for centuries" is silly if it also ignores Finland. (and "centuries" is two by the way)