And we must be careful with early calls for a ceasefire and peace. Remember that for half of Europe, peace after World War II did not mean the end of atrocities, but further repression. This is now happening again in the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine – children are being deported en masse to Russia, women are being raped, men are being imprisoned. Russia’s war in Ukraine has radically changed the security environment in Europe. We need to move from a forward presence to a modern model of front defense that involves combat forces ready and in place, with persistent and rapidly escalating reinforcements from across the NATO alliance. The attitude of our power must clearly show not only the will, but also the ability to defend every inch of its territory. The UK is a NATO framework nation for the Estonian battle group since 2017 and has doubled its forces in Estonia since the Russian invasion on 24 February. We are grateful to every British soldier in Estonia and look forward to working closely together to strengthen the Baltic Sea defense even more.
