Russian on-line media were quick to comment on right-wing EKRE politician and Estonian Interior Minister Mart Helme’s quotes on several issues as published recently in Germany’s of Deutsche Welle including its Russian edition.
Estonian Defence League expert unit ‘Propastop’, that monitors, exposes and analyses Russian propaganda has identified numerous media outlets that have covered the subject - Regnum, EADaily, Vesti, Vzglad, REN TV, Izvestia, MK.ru, RuBaltica.
A variety of aspects from Helme’s interview were covered. With regard to Ukrainian workers arriving in Estonia Helme was quoted: “We don’t want them here. Ukrainians don’t speak Estonian. They speak Russian, that’s for certain. … Estonia is too small.”
Proud of an image as a staunch Estonian nationalist, Helme’s remarks about Vladimir Putin seem at first glance to be contradictory to a typical anti-Kremlin stance: “Putin must act like a pharmacist, weighing everything with sensitivity to ensure that everything is in balance, for effective foreign policy.” Helme stressed that Putin is a pragmatic, who has no need to focus on the Baltic states because they are “provinces of Europe”.
As the days past from the date of Helme’s interview….