“There are no obstacles for Russian warships,” he said. “We do not seek to escalate tensions, however, such provocative statements require not only condemnation but also retaliation on our part.” Military analysts have pointed to the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Finland as a potential conflict zone. The US and NATO regularly conduct naval exercises in the region. Finland and Estonia are natural allies as their languages, affinities and cultures are similar. Mr Pevkur said they would integrate their coastal defense systems after Estonia received an order for Blue Spear missiles from the Israel-Singapore joint venture Proteus Advanced Systems. Finland’s arsenal already includes MTO-85M surface-to-sea missiles. “The flight range of Estonian and Finnish missiles is longer than the width of the Gulf of Finland,” he said. “That means we can connect our missile defenses and share all our information with each other.” When Kalle Laanet, then Estonia’s defense minister, signed the deal to buy Blue Spear missiles last year, he said it was “one of the most high-tech weapons systems of all time”. Juri Saska, head of the Estonian Navy, said the weapon system “will be the cornerstone of Estonia’s naval defense for decades to come.”
