Estonian Official Calls NATO, U.S. Vital to Defense

Posted: April 7th, 2017

By Mariin Ratnik

Mariin Ratnik is Director for Security Policy and Transatlantic Relations in the Political Department of Estonia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prior to that, she was Estonia's Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE); and prior to that, she was the Estonian Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg. Ratnik joined the Estonian Foreign Ministry in 2000 and has held several other high-level positions in the Ministry.

Estonia, both a European Union and NATO member, shares an entire eastern border with Russia but remains firmly embedded in the Western defense alliance. Mariin Ratnik, the head of security policy and transatlantic relations in Estonia’s Foreign Ministry, was recently in Washington for meetings with the Trump administration. The Cipher Brief’s Kaitlin Lavinder sat down with her to discuss international aid and diplomacy aspects of defense, EU-NATO defense cooperation, cyber warfare, and Russia.

The Cipher Brief: Can you give me a broad overview of the defense priorities right now in Estonia?

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