Europe was an ‘old, fat, lazy cat’. Now it has Trump’s support
Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna is on a three-day tour of Australia. He has a surprisingly optimistic view of Donald Trump’s challenges to NATO.
Europe must realise its relationship with Washington is now “conditional”, after US President Donald Trump “woke up” the continent to a need to boost defence spending, Estonia’s top diplomat says.
In an interview with Capital Brief during his visit to Canberra, Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also echoed calls for smaller powers, like Australia and Estonia, to bound together at a time when “the great superpowers are changing the world”.
Estonia, a country of just 1.4 million people with a border to Russia, has long relied on the NATO alliance, underpinned by Washington, as its defence guarantee against Russian aggression.
While Trump’s threats to NATO have sparked scepticism about the pact’s viability, Tsahkna argued it had jolted Europe, which had ignored warning signs in the lead-up to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
