Republic of Estonia on the Road Back to the West… Background and Reality of the Israeli Weapons Deal, 1992/1993

Abstract

In the early 1990s not a single Western government agreed to sell arms to the newly independent Estonia. As the constitutional government of Mart Laar (1992) declared a strong interest in Western collective security, even NATO membership, Soviet weapons became unacceptable and insupportable. In contrast,a plentiful supply of highly vaunted Western arms was considered a guarantee for the Republic’s continued independence and a precondition for future acceptance in Western security policy structures – and ultimately membership in NATO.