The president of Estonia on Thursday appeared to respond to a controversial New York Times interview in which Donald Trump said he would only support NATO allies who “have fulfilled their obligations to us” if they were attacked by Russia, saying that Estonia would stand by its NATO pledge no matter what.
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted that Estonia is committed to every one of the nations in NATO:
We are equally committed to a l l our NATO allies, regardless of who they may be. That’s what makes them allies.
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) July 21, 2016
Estonia is 1 of 5 NATO allies in Europe to meet its 2% def expenditures commitment. Fought, with no caveats, in NATO’s sole Art 5 op. in Afg
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) July 21, 2016
Ilves, who maintains a casual Twitter presence, then sent out another tweet asking that people not read into his statement too much.
No reason to read so much into my sentences about Estonia’s role in NATO. I’m simply Sgt Joe Friday: “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts”
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) July 21, 2016
He also took time to respond to someone seeming to mock former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who defended Trump’s interview with the Times. Gingrich had referred to Estonia as “the suburbs of St. Petersburg.”
@wanapagan geographically challenged, I guess
— toomas hendrik ilves (@IlvesToomas) July 21, 2016
