Western journalism has published a mass of articles claiming that Russia is about to attack Europe — especially the Baltic states and Poland — and that NATO forces are not ready to face battle‑hardened Russian soldiers. Fear is also fed by the possible withdrawal of the United States from defending Europe.

Estonian diplomats working at NATO have said they have not noticed any loosening of the alliance's military posture. Military planning continues in the same spirit, regardless of what politicians say.

Preparations

Recently, ETV showed a two‑part British documentary from 2025, "Inside NATO: The Battle to Stop Putin", which focuses on NATO's ability to rapidly deploy forces to defend its eastern flank.

It thoroughly covers the annual major exercise Steadfast Dart, in which 10,000 soldiers with equipment are deployed to the eastern wing. The exercise scenario assumed that Russia had attacked the Baltic states with large forces and that help needed to arrive quickly. The goal was ten days; they achieved it in 8.5. This must be remembered, because that is roughly the time during which one must manage on their own.

NATO has made a smart decision to pre‑position allied contingents of a certain size in the Baltic states — in Estonia, for example, the British, French and Americans. They are few, but symbolically important. The Russians know that attacking means killing them too. Lithuania will become an even stronger signal if Germany permanently stations a brigade there — more than 4,000 troops.

The British documentary is no sugar‑coating; it openly discusses shortcomings. For example, how many military vehicles broke down during the deployment and had to be repaired and transported. Or the challenge of building field hospitals. The weather, which southern soldiers are not used to.

The most important part is mental preparation. Soldiers must be prepared for brutal trench fighting for life and death. The film constantly references Ukraine's experience. NATO must be ready for the same Russian brutality seen in Ukraine.

What the public does not know

In any case, the film does not give the impression that NATO is sitting helplessly and fearfully awaiting a Russian attack. Preparations are underway — only the media pays little attention, because headlines suggesting imminent catastrophe sell better.

Relatively unnoticed was NATO's unannounced exercise on 18 August near Kaliningrad, involving US and Norwegian fighter jets, Polish ground forces, AWACS reconnaissance aircraft and more. Military observers saw it as a signal to Russia not to play games with talk of launching ballistic missiles from Kaliningrad toward Europe or seizing the critical Suwałki corridor.

In the same category is the US decision at the end of August to deploy four Tomahawk cruise‑missile launchers to Trondheim, Norway. This triggered a furious reaction from Moscow, because those missiles "cover" a large part of Russia's European territory.

Even more symbolic was the recent NATO exercise Northern Viking near Iceland. It practiced fighting Russia's submarine fleet. What made it symbolic was that, for the first time, Americans were not present. The lead nation was France.

The Americans have always said — not only during Donald Trump's time — that Europeans must take the lead in their own security and that it is time for the US to "move out." It is unclear how sincere this thinking is. Analysts recall that in the late 1990s, when the European Union wanted to create security cooperation outside NATO, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright rushed to Europe and scolded them harshly for daring to create anything parallel to NATO (read: the USA).

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