Riga, 29 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Estonia's Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has said the Ukraine conflict has shown what might have happened to his country had it not joined NATO 20 years ago.

"It cannot be ruled out that without NATO membership our independence would now be at risk," Tsahkna said on Friday on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of joining the transatlantic defence alliance.

"If Estonia had remained in the so-called grey zone, what we are currently seeing in Ukraine could possibly have happened on our territory," he said.

In addition to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Slovakia also joined NATO on March 29, 2004.

"Because we made the necessary decisions back then, we now live in a free and secure Estonia," Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in a video message.

Estonia borders Russia to the east and feels the threat of Russian force since the invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago, she said.

Estonia now spends more than 3% of its gross domestic product on the military, said Kallas, as she urged NATO allies to spend more money on defence.

Photo: MIA Archive