Putin precisa de guerra para se manter no poder", diz o primeiro-ministro da Estónia
O primeiro-ministro da Estónia considera que a Rússia continuará a ser uma ameaça enquanto Vladimir Putin se mantiver no poder. Em entrevista à Euronews, Kristen Michal explicou que o fim da guerra obrigaria o presidente russo a enfrentar perguntas difíceis do seu próprio povo.
LEIA MAIS : http://pt.euronews.com/2025/07/03/putin-precisa-de-guerra-para-se-manter-no-poder-diz-o-primeiro-ministro-da-estonia
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00:10My guest this week is Estonian Prime Minister Kristine Michal.
00:13Estonia is one of the biggest spenders on defence in the whole of NATO.
00:17He says everyone must increase their expenditure because, as he tells me,
00:22Putin needs war to stay in power.
00:25Kristine Michal, Prime Minister of Estonia, thank you very much for joining us
00:31on the Europe Conversation.
00:32Thank you.
00:33We've had such an intensive time of late.
00:35We had the NATO summit in The Hague where we had Donald Trump arriving.
00:40We also saw one of the most remarkable things I've heard him say at a press conference
00:44was actually quite alarming.
00:45He was asked, first of all, whether he saw Putin as a direct threat, an immediate threat.
00:51He described Putin as someone who was misguided.
00:53And then he was also asked whether he believed Putin had designs beyond Ukraine.
01:01And he said, possibly.
01:02What does that make you think coming from Estonia?
01:07To be honest, we know our neighbour.
01:10For Putin, it's all about being in power.
01:13To be honest, Putin needs conflict, like fish needs water, because if you don't have a conflict,
01:19then probably people in Russia will be asking, where is my son, where is my husband, where are my assets, and so on.
01:27So to keep everybody under the lead, keep people quiet, keep the regime in power, he needs, Putin needs this kind of conflict.
01:37So that's why we understand that until the regime and Putin changes his goals, until then, Russia is acute threat to Europe, to NATO, to all the civilized world.
01:50Do you think it is possible then that Putin could try some sort of territorial conquest in Estonia or the other Baltics?
01:58I would say that we should not be afraid of it, because we are prepared.
02:03That is Finnish saying, and I'm quoting it often, that next year Estonia will have defense expenditure 5.4% of GDP.
02:11Last year, we were in top three of NATO, by GDP.
02:16So I would say that we are getting prepared, and as a member of the European Union and as a member of NATO,
02:23which recently, a few days ago, committed to increasing defense expenditure,
02:29I would say that we feel strong with NATO and with the European Union.
02:33Because there was Donald Trump on his way over on Air Force One when he came to that summit in The Hague,
02:41casting doubt over Article 5, saying he had explained more when he got there.
02:45Now, when he arrived, he did give assurances that America was committed to Article 5.
02:51But there's always a sort of a haze around it, and there's a question as to whether, in the moment,
02:56if there was some sort of territorial conquest by Putin, whether the United States, and NATO as a whole, would vote to trigger Article 5.
03:03I would say that Trump's message in that room was quite clear, and also the same in the press conference afterwards.
03:11He said that seeing that everybody agreed not to please him, but just to increase the NATO's capability,
03:20and also NATO's letality agreed to increase defense expenditure.
03:26And to be honest, going from 2% recommended level to 5%, 3.5% plus 1.5% is a huge step for everybody, to be frank.
03:36And as he saw that and said that his message is also that he's committed, as long as he's in office,
03:44the States is committed to NATO, and that's quite a clear message to NATO members that the United States is committed to NATO.
03:51When you look at Estonia, obviously, you're top of the league when it comes to GDP spending on defense, over 5%,
03:58and probably that will go beyond that in the coming years.
04:01But then there are countries like Spain, for example, who say that's a problem for them, Slovakia as well.
04:07What do you say to those countries?
04:09I will say that it's not only the questions of kilometers, how far you are from Russia.
04:15It's also about recognizing that Europe works as a team, and NATO also,
04:21because NATO is only the strongest alliance because everybody contributes,
04:28and everybody has certain capabilities to support each other,
04:33because the Weston is small, but as you said, our defense expenditure will be more than 5% in GDP in military terms,
04:42not even the wide terms. It probably will be even more.
04:46So we can contribute in certain capabilities that others don't have.
04:51I know that other Baltics, other Nordic countries are increasing the defense expenditure.
04:55So as we protect the eastern flank, we expect our allies in other parts of the world to do the same.
05:03I mean, what's your reaction, I suppose, to the likes of Pedro Sanchez?
05:06I mean, do you feel a little bit let down?
05:08I would say that my expectations probably are, yes, that as I know that every country has their own questions,
05:19let's say, in domestic politics.
05:21But to be honest, in NATO's declaration, I ask the secretary-general Mark Rüte that do we have some kind of exemptions for Spain?
05:31He said that no, there are no exceptions in the exemptions.
05:34So I would say that Pedro Sanchez will also have to elaborate himself that how he will fulfill the NATO criteria.
05:45Are you worried about any sort of malaise occurring within Europe, within NATO,
05:51those countries that, from a demographic point of view, that people will say,
05:55well, hold on a minute, I don't want to see all this money going towards Ukraine and defense.
05:59I want to see more investment in education, social health care, housing.
06:05These kind of messages are always there, to be honest, because it doesn't even depend on which area you're spending.
06:12Because, to be honest, some people are saying you should not spend so much money on roads or something.
06:19There are always these kind of messages, no question about it.
06:22But I would say that Swedish prime minister Ulf, Kristiansand, put it very nicely that,
06:29yes, we need a welfare state, but welfare state also needs protection.
06:35So if you want to have a free and prosperous area, which Europe is most free and most prosperous area,
06:42then you need to protect also and you need the capabilities and not only a phone call to your big friend.
06:49So I would say that increasing investments in defense is also increase of security in a very prosperous area to keep it free as it is.
07:01I mean, how do you explain that to your voters when they see the defense industry making an absolute killing?
07:07I mean, there are endless profits when people can't afford various things, various basic things,
07:14and they don't see an end to all of this.
07:16I mean, how do you speak to your voters about it?
07:19And also, what does Estonia do?
07:20Do you cut spending?
07:21Are you borrowing?
07:22Yeah, we do both.
07:24We cut spending.
07:25We are borrowing.
07:26And we also raise taxes.
07:29To be honest, this, not everything in that order are not very so popular in Estonia, to be honest.
07:37But where would it be?
07:38So nobody likes the taxes and nobody likes the cuts in public budget.
07:42But you have to do what you have to do to increase defense spending.
07:46But, yeah, but to explain it to people, I would say that it's probably quite simple.
07:54But because we are doing it for ourselves, for our kids, for our neighborhood, for our countries,
08:00not to anybody else.
08:03And also, in Estonia and probably all over Europe, it's the same scenario that defense industry right now is booming and going up.
08:13And I would say that it's also an addition to our economy because it's, yeah, for bad reasons, but it's quite innovative.
08:21In Estonia, we have almost already 200 companies going into defense.
08:28And one of the things, I suppose, one of the priorities or the points of Vladimir Putin's territorial conquest is to reestablish the Russian sphere of influence across,
08:36especially the Baltics, Europe and so on.
08:38But in Estonia, the Russian language, for example, has been all but eliminated in terms of Russian-speaking schools and so on.
08:45And can you tell us a little bit about the action taken by Estonia to say, well, no longer will there be Russian influence in our country?
08:52Yes, we have been quite systematic, but same probably in other Baltic countries and all the other countries that have been influenced by Russia's actions
09:02because we are quite vigilant.
09:05To be honest, for example, Estonia was the first country in the world that since 2007,
09:11it has been a very, very long time that we became under constant cyber attacks from Russia's side,
09:17from stateside criminal players.
09:19And for us, the only way to cope with Russia's, this kind of influence, hybrid attacks and cyber attacks is to increase our cyber capabilities,
09:29which are quite good, to be honest.
09:30And we have this kind of system also that the public sector is working with private sector in Estonia.
09:36But Russia has not decreased its attacks against us.
09:39So with the language, we are the same.
09:43We have this kind of reform going to Estonia on schooling.
09:45And I would say that it should have been done 20 or 30 years ago, but we're doing it right now.
09:52There are small debates, but nothing major.
09:56And we also had an electoral reform saying that citizens who can vote for Putin, for example...
10:03So Russian people with a dual passport, is it?
10:06Yeah, Russian citizens cannot vote in local elections.
10:09So that is a quite clear message that, let's say, half of Europe has done it already.
10:14So we are not in front even with that, that Russian citizens do not participate in local matters.
10:22If you want to participate in local matters, it's quite obvious you should be a citizen of that state.
10:27Just a final question.
10:28The EU has said that it's unacceptable the level of death in Gaza, the starvation, the number of civilians being killed,
10:35the attacks on hospitals, civilian infrastructure, lack of food and so on.
10:40What would you like to see the EU do in relation to Israel, international law,
10:46obviously notwithstanding the fact that hostages need to be released by Hamas.
10:50But what do you think the EU should do?
10:51The high representative presented a review with the Israel compliance and we also delegated her this question
11:06that she will have a set of probable possible means for the next meeting that will be the European steps
11:13because it was also a very emotional debate, as you said, that everybody wants to have a peaceful and diplomatic solution.
11:21But what do you think the EU should do?
11:23I mean, it's, as we've seen, the language is pretty extreme, a graveyard for children and so on.
11:29What do you think the EU should actually do about it?
11:32What the EU is doing and probably will do is trying to use its influence on Israel as much as possible
11:39to achieve diplomatic results and to achieve peace.
11:44But at the same time, as you pointed out, that hostages also need to go home.
11:49Okay, Christy Mikhail, Prime Minister of Estonia, thank you very much for joining us on the Europe Conversation.
