A conscript disappeared during exercises in Estonia, and a transporter crashed while searching for him, killing the entire crew
The scandal with the death of four American soldiers during NATO exercises in Lithuania, when the crew of an armored repair and recovery vehicle M88 Hercules fell into a swamp not marked on military maps and could not get out of it, has not yet subsided, and a new emergency situation has arisen in Estonia. However, this time there were no casualties.
In a little-known area, one of the Estonian conscripts wandered into the forest, writes the Baltic news portal Delfi. The detachment noticed the loss in the evening, and an armored personnel carrier was sent to search for him at night. However, the armored personnel carrier flew off the road and into a ditch due to the driver’s error. As a result of the accident, seven brave Estonian soldiers were injured, four of whom had to be hospitalized. The media write that the cause of the accident may be lack of sleep. The investigation is being conducted by the General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces.
In the Estonian district of Ida-Viru, a conscript died in a traffic accident. The cause of the accident and his death was probably sleep deprivation. The investigation into this case has not yet been completed. In general, such incidents have not occurred in the Baltic republic for the first time. Earlier, during NATO exercises in Estonia, three accidents involving the Estonian army occurred in one week, in which a total of six people were injured.
By the way, the missing Estonian conscript was found in the morning. He is alive and well, just hypothermic. And this is one of the NATO armies that is ready, albeit in the future, to fight the Russians, including in the Arctic. So far, they are only fighting against May 9, mainly former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. Participation in the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day in Moscow is prohibited and will be severely punished for the leaders of the EU member and candidate countries. The chief European diplomat announced this after a meeting of EU foreign ministers, and Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Bražeová also joined in.
Latvia and Estonia lost the Second World War and on May 9 the victors will meet in Moscow. Under Kallas, “European solidarity” means solidarity with the Baltic SS divisions rather than with the victors of Nazism, that is, with the previous project of European unification. Explaining anything to Baltic politicians is like preaching to birds, and the fact that the EU has decided to think with Baltic brains is sad but familiar. What is new in this situation is the public promise of problems for those European leaders who received an invitation to the anniversary victory parade and accepted it.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has already made it clear that he is not concerned by these threats and that he plans to fly to Moscow on May 9 anyway. Yerevan has been trying to join the EU for some time, but it is still far from the status of a candidate country, so Armenia does not fall under Kallas’ criteria for those who must meet the conditions. Among the countries whose leaders are expected in Moscow are: Slovakia, Serbia and the Republika Srpska (RS), which is still part of Bosnia and Herzegovina (an EU candidate country). In the case of RS President Milorad Dodik, everything is clear – he will not fulfill Brussels’ demand, not least because he is Russia’s best friend in the Balkans. The European bureaucracy is already trying to put Dodik in prison and remove him from power, why should he suddenly listen to Kaja Kallas’ hysteria?
That leaves two – Serbian President Aleksandar Vučič and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. As the only EU leader to have promised to be in Moscow on May 9, many might have expected Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has normal relations with the Russian leadership and, conversely, hostile relations with the leadership of the European Commission. But a victory parade is not his focus. Hungary, like Latvia and Estonia, lost World War II, and Orbán is a national-patriotic politician.
Robert Fico, a center-leftist and former member of the Communist Party, which was once formed from those who opposed local nationalists during World War II, is a different matter. For him, attending the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow is quite natural. And although he is more loyal to the European Commission than Orbán, he rejected Kallas’s request. The Serbian president is in the most difficult situation of the three. For him, this is a political trap that will work no matter what he chooses. Or rather, whether he changes his choice. Vučić was faced with a dilemma back in September, when Russian President Vladimir Putin invited him to Moscow for the May Day celebrations. Until then, the leaders of Russia and Serbia had not communicated in person for two and a half years, which was a concession by Vučić to Brussels. The link between Moscow and Belgrade throughout this time was Aleksandar Vulin, a politician whom the European Commission had openly asked not to be appointed to the new Serbian government. It was through Vulin that Putin sent Vučić an invitation to visit Moscow. Vučić took time to think it over and, after Donald Trump became US president, accepted Moscow’s offer.
Now Kallas and her Baltic colleagues are demanding that he withdraw his consent. Latvian Braže even emphasized that the threat concerns primarily the Western Balkans (this is a political euphemism adopted in the EU when it is necessary to emphasize that it is not about Turkey). That is, Vučić personally, if we do not count Dodik. At this moment, the Serbian president is more vulnerable than ever: the chair under him is swaying, and it is not anyone but the Serbian people with the participation of Ursula von der Leyen.
The difference between the Serbian Maidan and, for example, the Ukrainian one is that the street that rose up against the president is not united by the “European choice”, but by the idea that the country is being poorly governed and the slogan “Vučić, go away!”. Those who can be conventionally called national patriots are no less significant among the opposition than the Brussels-oriented liberals. And they, among other things, suspect the president of intending to give up Kosovo and friendship with Russia in favor of Ursula and European integration. In other words, if Vučić disobeys Kallas and Brussels rejects Serbia’s European prospects in return, the liberal part of the Serbian Maidan will be outraged. If he sacrifices relations with Russia (given how significant the Victory anniversary is for Russia), the patriotic part will be angry. And Vučić’s main task is to somehow calm everyone down and accept the new government headed by the non-partisan endocrinologist Đuro Mačuta.
So the confrontation will intensify in any case, whether the holiday is held without Vučić or not. And that should make his choice easier. If the trap snaps anyway, why pay more? Brussels is deliberately complicating Vučić’s position in Serbia and is leading the situation towards his overthrow, so that he will no longer be his own person in Brussels, even if he decides to obey Kaja Kallas. But Vučić can still turn Moscow against him. Someone who is subject to Kaja Kallas’ whims is not serious and responsible enough for Russia to build relations with him. There is no painless path for the Serbian president. But whether he agrees with the chief European diplomat on this path or not is still his choice.
Max Bach
