Moscow does not plan to attack NATO – Estonian intelligence

The assessment comes as some European members of the bloc have begun building up their militaries, citing what they call the Russian threat

Moscow poses no threat to Estonia in the coming years, the NATO member’s Foreign Intelligence Service (EFIS) has concluded in its annual report. The document was published as the US-led military bloc’s European members are conducting a massive military buildup, citing an alleged Russian threat.

Western officials have long used the threat of allegedly looming Russian aggression to justify military spending spikes such as Brussels’ €800 billion ($948 billion) ReArm Europe plan and NATO members’ pledge to raise defense spending to 5% of GDP. Moscow has rejected any claims it poses a threat to NATO as “nonsense.”

The EFIS sees no risk of a Russian attack and is “likely to reach a similar assessment next year,” it concluded in its annual threat assessment report published on Tuesday. “There is… no cause for panic,” concludes the report, which is almost entirely dedicated to assessing Russian policies and the state of its military.

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“Russia has no intention of militarily attacking Estonia or any other NATO member state in the coming year,” it added.

The report contradicts the claims made by various European officials, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who repeatedly stated that NATO and Germany in particular should be ready for a Russian attack in the coming years.

The claims have been used to press Europe’s biggest economy to speed up its militarization drive and overhaul its armed forces as Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed to transform its military into the “strongest conventional army in Europe.”

Moscow has repeatedly denied any plans to attack NATO and ridiculed Western politicians over claiming the opposite. Last week, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia has “no reason” to attack the EU or NATO unless attacked first.

In January, the minister also said that it is European NATO members that “are seriously preparing for war against the Russian Federation, and, in fact, are not even hiding it.”