What Christmas looks like for this NATO base north of Estonia
In the NATO base in the north of Estonia, near the city of Tapa, everyone makes the most of what's available to create a Christmas atmosphere.
Transcript
00:00 In this NATO base in the north of Estonia, near the city of Tapa, everyone makes the
00:06 most of what's available to create a Christmas atmosphere.
00:10 A tree, Santa Claus, everything is here as in other places.
00:16 The difference is that for these soldiers, Christmas does not mean rest and relaxation.
00:24 Just 150 kilometres west of the border with Russia, this base houses 3,200 soldiers and
00:30 military personnel as part of the NATO-enhanced Forward Presence mission, sent here after
00:36 the Russian invasion of Crimea.
00:39 Since the war in Ukraine, this mission strengthened its defence with the presence of 80 soldiers
00:44 from the US Battery from Battalion Fires Brigade, equipped with four units of a high-mobility
00:49 artillery rocket system.
00:51 During peacetime, our own altogether purpose is to deter, to show that we bite if you bite.
01:00 So this is our goal during the peacetime.
01:04 But as Estonia is going to get our own Hymer systems in the year 2025, so the Americans
01:12 help us to learn the systems already now, where we don't have the systems yet.
01:19 This former Soviet military base is now the largest NATO military installation in Estonia,
01:25 aiming to send a clear message that Allies will not allow Europe to be destabilised.
01:31 In Tapa, NATO base Estonia, for Euronews, Borja Njovanovski.
01:35 [SWOOSH]