A three-hour drive from Tallinn, the Estonian capital, Camp Reedo only appears at the last bend of a dirt road carved out among the pine trees. We are less than thirty kilometers as the crow flies from Russia. This military base is the first to emerge from the ground in Estonia since the end of the Soviet era in 1991. It is due to host American soldiers from 2025. In the middle of a land that has just been cleared of trees and tarmacked, dozens of hangars have been built at a rapid pace: only fourteen months separate the decision to begin work, in the summer of 2023, and the inauguration, which took place on September 17, in the shadow of the flags of Estonia, the European Union and NATO.
While Estonia's main military bases have so far been in the north of the country, near the Baltic Sea, Reedo marks the Estonians' desire to strengthen their military presence on their southern flank, which they believe is most exposed to Russian expansionism. “We are doing all this for one reason: to ensure the security of Estonia and its allies”underlines the Estonian Minister of Defence, Hanno Pevkur, behind his lectern set up on the parade ground with its gleaming asphalt on the day of the inauguration.
The camp is part of NATO's new military plans, adopted in July 2023. Their objective is to prevent the slightest incursion by the Russians onto “NATO soil” in order to avoid the policy of fait accompli, as in the Ukrainian case. “The strategy is clear: don't let them in”Mr. Pevkur emphasizes. “Our presence here and that of our allies sends a very clear message of deterrence to Russia: we are together. Attacking one country means attacking them all, and the response will come from all of them.”, he adds.
American presence strengthened
As autumn approaches, the speed of the construction site seems to have taken the residents of the surrounding dachas by surprise. Their small houses, once located on the banks of a peaceful lake, now adjoin stone roads where columns of military vehicles will soon be traveling. Eventually, the Reedo site should even be part of a vast existing training camp called “Nursipalu”, whose surface area is due to triple in the coming months to 10,000 hectares, the equivalent of the Mourmelon camp (Marne) used by the French army.
Until now, the approximately 500 American soldiers who were the first to move into the new facilities were housed in blue containers lined up a few kilometers away, on the Taara base, a former Soviet-era complex. These soldiers began arriving in Estonia in late 2023, following the signing of a bilateral cooperation agreement between Tallinn and Washington. Since then, their presence has continued to grow, and the walls of Taara have become too narrow.
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Source: Lemonde
