The Baltic Sentinel

The Baltic Sentinel The Baltic Sentinel: A Tallinn-based defense journal covering NATO's northeast developments.

Closing the narrows of the Gulf of Finland to Soviet warships is a hundred-year-old idea.
23/04/2026

Closing the narrows of the Gulf of Finland to Soviet warships is a hundred-year-old idea.

Closing the narrows of the Gulf of Finland to enemy warships is an idea that is one hundred years old.

On April 9, Estonia issued a draft National Security Strategy that, for the first time, declares “active defense” — incl...
21/04/2026

On April 9, Estonia issued a draft National Security Strategy that, for the first time, declares “active defense” — including deep strikes into enemy territory — as an organizing principle of a military defense operation.

The Baltic states are moving, unevenly but unmistakably, toward a more active model of defense — one that could include striking Russian military targets beyond the front line. The military logic is increasingly clear; the political mandate is not.

Margo Palloson, director of Estonia’s Security Police, said while presenting KAPO’s annual report today that 🇪🇪 expell...
13/04/2026

Margo Palloson, director of Estonia’s Security Police, said while presenting KAPO’s annual report today that 🇪🇪 expelled Russian “war nuns” and that a Russian Orthodox clergyman was caught "photo spying" near a military base in southeastern Estonia.

Estonia’s internal security service KAPO has sharpened its warning about representatives of Russian Orthodoxy in the country, arguing in its latest annual report that some clergy tied to the Moscow Patriarchate are part of a broader Kremlin influence apparatus rather than simply religious figures.

On Thursday, April 9 the Estonian government made a fundamental decision to halt the €500 million combat vehicle procure...
11/04/2026

On Thursday, April 9 the Estonian government made a fundamental decision to halt the €500 million combat vehicle procurement program and instead redirect the funds to strengthening counter-drone capabilities, air defense, situational awareness and unmanned vehicles.

On Thursday, April 9 the Estonian government made a fundamental decision to halt the €500 million combat vehicle procurement program and instead redirect the funds to strengthening counter-drone capabilities, air defense, situational awareness and unmanned systems.

“Sweden has been fat and happy for a long time. The question is whether we’ve become lean and mean yet. I’m not sure we ...
09/04/2026

“Sweden has been fat and happy for a long time. The question is whether we’ve become lean and mean yet. I’m not sure we have,” says Joakim Paasikivi, one of Sweden’s leading defense voices.

“Sweden has been fat and happy for a long time. The question is whether we’ve become lean and mean yet. I’m not sure we have,” says Joakim Paasikivi, one of Sweden’s leading defense voices.

Jüri Luik, Estonia’s ambassador to NATO, said, commenting on the September 2021 Stoltenberg-Lavrov meeting, that NATO Se...
09/04/2026

Jüri Luik, Estonia’s ambassador to NATO, said, commenting on the September 2021 Stoltenberg-Lavrov meeting, that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was carrying out the “boss’s orders,” alluding to then-U.S. President Joe Biden.

On April 6, the Estonian radio program Välistund hosted Estonia’s ambassador to NATO, Jüri Luik, whose term as ambassador began on September 1, 2021, that is, shortly before Jens Stoltenberg’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in September 2021. In the interview, Jüri Luik o...

The lessons of drone warfare from the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea are increasingly applicable to the Baltic Sea, ...
02/04/2026

The lessons of drone warfare from the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea are increasingly applicable to the Baltic Sea, according to former British naval officer and diplomat John Foreman, an associate fellow at Chatham House.

The lessons of drone warfare from the Strait of Hormuz and the Black Sea are increasingly applicable to the Baltic Sea. According to former British naval officer and diplomat John Foreman, an associate fellow at Chatham House, low-cost uncrewed systems could reshape the regional balance of power.

Senior Fellow at ICDS Tomas Jermalavičius says the NATO summit in Ankara should be canceled if things continue as they a...
01/04/2026

Senior Fellow at ICDS Tomas Jermalavičius says the NATO summit in Ankara should be canceled if things continue as they are, given the current situation with Trump.

Donald Trump cannot pull the United States out of NATO alone, but the alliance is clearly no longer a U.S. strategic priority, and the Ankara summit should be canceled if things continue as they are, says Tomas Jermalavičius of the International Center for Defense and Security (Tallinn, Estonia).

Speaking at the March 26 Joint Expeditionary Force summit, Alexander Stubb said the war in Ukraine is likely to continue...
01/04/2026

Speaking at the March 26 Joint Expeditionary Force summit, Alexander Stubb said the war in Ukraine is likely to continue this year, while the U.S. is draining critical ammunition stockpiles because of the war in Iran.

Speaking at the March 26 Joint Expeditionary Force summit, Alexander Stubb said the war in Ukraine is likely to continue this year, while the U.S. is draining critical ammunition stockpiles because of the war in Iran.

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, claims that a 19-year-old IT specialist working for his political rival was recr...
01/04/2026

Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, claims that a 19-year-old IT specialist working for his political rival was recruited by Ukrainians at the Tallinn-based NATO Cyber Defense Center.

A scandal broke out in Hungary last week over a government video showing alleged counterintelligence officers questioning a young IT specialist linked to the Tisza party, suspected of being recruited through the Estonia-based NATO Cyber Defense Center to spy for Ukraine.

BOOK REVIEW: Jens Stoltenberg’s memoir reveals a Secretary General willing to discuss Europe’s security order over the h...
30/03/2026

BOOK REVIEW: Jens Stoltenberg’s memoir reveals a Secretary General willing to discuss Europe’s security order over the heads of the allies most exposed to the Russian threat.

Jens Stoltenberg’s memoir reveals a Secretary General willing to discuss Europe’s security order over the heads of the allies most exposed to the Russian threat.

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