C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000279 SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE FOR EUR/NB MIGUEL RODRIGUEZ E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2018 TAGS:
PREL, PGOV, RS, GG, AM, EN SUBJECT: TFGGO1: ESTONIA SUPPORTS STRONG NAC
STATEMENT Classified by: DCM Karen Decker for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d)
REF: (A) STATE 85678 (B) WARSAW 947 

1. (C) On August 8, DCM and Poloff 
provided reftel points on Georgia to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA) Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Harri Tiido and Georgia Desk
Officer Toomas Tiirs. Tiido told DCM that the GOE will strongly support
U.S. efforts for a NAC on Georgia at the August 12 meeting. 

2. (C) 
Later in the day, U/S Tiido briefed diplomats from EU and NATO missions 
on the Estonian reaction to the situation in Georgia. Tiido 
characterized the current situation as Russian military aggression 
against a sovereign country. He said that at the North Atlantic Council 
(NAC) meeting on Tuesday, Estonia would be looking for a strong 
statement from the NAC or the Secretary General condemning Russian 
actions and recognizing that the Russian Federation (GOR) is operating 
outside the boundaries of international law. NATO needs to affirm the 
territorial sovereignty of Georgia, Tiido said, and call for an 
immediate end to the hostilities and full withdrawal from Georgian 
territory. Estonia would also like the NAC statement to contain a 
reference to Georgia's intent to join NATO. The GOE feels strongly that 
NATO should send a message that both Georgia and Ukraine remain 
applicants and their progress toward membership will continue. 

3. (C) 
With respect to EU action on Georgia, Tiido said Estonia would like to 
see EU support for the French/Finnish Four Point Action Plan (withdraw 
of troops to previous position, an immediate halt to hostilities, 
respect for sovereign territory, refrain from using inflammatory 
language). Tiido also called on the EU to act rapidly and decisively to 
find a single voice on the matter. The EU should also consolidate 
activities in the UN/OSCE/COE and other international organizations. 
Tiido called on the EU to demand an active role in sending a "new" 
peacekeeping force to South Ossetia. He emphasized the need for a "new" 
mission, stating Russia 'clearly demonstrated themselves to be unfit to 
conduct peacekeeping operations.' Tiido also invited all democratic 
countries to join a joint statement by the Polish and Baltic presidents 
(emailed to EUR/NB) condemning Russian actions in South Ossetia. 
Finally, Tiido suggested that the EU should review EU-Russia relations 
and consider actions that would signal to Russia that military 
aggression against its neighbor is not without consequences. (E.g. 
suspending the EU-Russia PCA negotiations and the EU-Russia visa 
facilitation agreement.) (Note: The GOE sent a memo to all EU members 
detailing its position on Georgia/Russia within the EU. The MFA provided
Embassy with a copy of the note, which has been emailed to EUR/NB). 

4. (C) Subsequently, Post confirmed ref B report that Estonian President 
Toomas Hendrik Ilves will travel to Georgia along with the Polish, 
Lithuanian, Ukraine Presidents and the Latvian Prime Minister on August 
12. Earlier plans for Prime Minister Ansip to travel to Georgia have 
been delayed because of logistical problems. PM Ansip and Foreign 
Minister Paet (who is currently in Iraq) may travel later in the week. 
4. (C) Estonia has chartered an Estonian Air flight to take humanitarian
aid to Georgia via Yerevan. Media reports indicate that approximately 
50 volunteers from the Estonian Defense League are traveling to Georgia 
to deliver assistance. The plane is also set to bring back 100-120 
Estonian nationals from Georgia. Estonia will also send two cyber 
security experts to help Georgia defend against that wave of cyber 
attacks they are currently experiencing. The Chairman of the 
Parliament's Defense Committee, Mati Raidma, is already in Georgia to 
consult on cyber security. 

5. (U) Senior GOE officials and 
parliamentarians have issued multiple statements over the last few days.
Estonian President Ilves, PM Ansip, FM Paet and several

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members of the Estonian Parliament have all publicly
condemned Russia's military intervention in South Ossetia and demanded 
that Russia immediately withdraw its troops form Georgia. Several MPs 
have noted they do not think Russia intends to stop at Ossetia, is 
intent on forcing a change of government in Tbilisi and that western 
powers need to step in before they find themselves in 'a new war in 
which Russia dictates the terms.' 

6. (C) COMMENT. Estonia has a 
long-standing interest in Georgian security and is clearly willing to 
take an aggressive stand in this matter ' both individually and in 
coordination with regional partners. Several Estonian officials, 
including Undersecretary Tiido, have expressed concerns that a failure 
to stop Russian aggression in Georgia could have far reaching 
implication for other countries with large ethnic Russian communities. 
END COMMENT. PHILLIPS