The document provides that The army will be able to use force in exceptional cases, for example, when the life of a large number of people is threatened or “to avoid a disaster”said the chairman of the Parliamentary Defense Committee, Calew Stoicescu. He assured that The crew of a suspicious ship will be warned and evacuated against sinking.
According to him, the Estonian Navy will be able to sink ships in the Estonian exclusive economic zone, which extends to the border with similar zones of neighboring countries. At the same time, if the possibilities of Estonia do not allow her to “react properly” to the threat, Tallin will consist in cooperation with Finland, Sweden, Latvia and other allies, added Stoiatek.
The permission to the army to respond with force to threats in the Baltic Sea, including in the exclusive economic zone of Estonia, was announced by the Minister of Defense Hanno Piekura in mid -January. He noticed then that the defense minister would have to issue the appropriate permission if the use of force is necessary.
The initiative was taken in the context of the growing number broken cables in the Baltic Sea. Due to the threat of NATO, it decided to strengthen its military presence in the region. Simultaneously Western countries accused Russia of participating in incidents. However, as reported by “The Washington Post”, during the investigations of the North Atlantic Alliance, they found no evidence that cable damage was the result of sabotage from Moscow.
“Who will turn out to be guilty?”
Meanwhile The initiative of sinking suspicious units was criticized by the former commander of the Estonian Navy Juri Saska. According to him, the war ship commander will be put in a stressful situation: he will have suspicions, and politicians on this basis will decide to sink a specific ship.
“Then everything turns out to be impossible to prove. And the question arises: Who will turn out to be guilty? On the basis of whose recommendations were decisions made?” Saska said. The military also emphasized that after the crew's evacuation, the ship would not pose a threat to the key infrastructure, but its sinking will be a greater threat to the environment. “It is all somehow very confusing,” Saska summed up.
