Karoliina Ainge

Europe was dragging its feet on harmonising - truly harmonising - energy policy across the EU. I concluded that an external shock will be required to move the needle on this. Living next to a genocidal regime will do exactly that.

What a great weekend for all in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 2/2

In 2011, I wrote my MA thesis on EU's energy policy and focused particularly on the Baltic States. At the time, they were widely referred to as an "energy island" within the EU. Old Soviet connections kept them tethered to Russia. 1/2

Daily: Russian spy exchanged in 2018 flees back to Estonia, claims asylum A Russian operative who was part of a "spy swap" on the Estonian border in 2018 has returned to Estonia, claiming political asylum, daily Eesti Päevaleht (EPL) reports.

news.err.ee/1608793006/d...

Britain’s Prince Edward was asked to become the king of Estonia In 1994, the Estonian Royalist Party sent a letter to Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, requesting permission to crown her youngest son, Prince Edward, as Estonia’s monarch.

On the event of Prince Edward visiting Estonia tomorrow, it's a good moment to recall how the Estonian royalist party asked him to become the King of Estonia:

estonianworld.com/life/britain...

Live: Large 7.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near Vanuatu As a rescue operation gets underway, Michael Thompson says help and heavy machinery are needed.

We at @IDiplomat are deeply saddened by the news of the #Vanuatuearthquake. Our thoughts are with the people and government as they respond to this crisis. We stand ready to support their recovery and continue our partnership on #digitalresilience. 🇻🇺

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

6/ Together, we can build partnerships and resilience for a more secure digital future for everyone. Let’s make these final sessions count! 💻🌏

#CyberSecurity #PSIDS #DigitalGovernance #ICTs #cyberOEWG

5/ PSIDS voices are vital to creating a fair, inclusive framework for responsible state behavior in cyberspace. I’m excited to work with colleagues to champion solutions that reflect our unique challenges. 💪

4/ 3️⃣ Addressing the Human Dimension
Cybersecurity isn't just about tech—it's about people. Misinformation, online scams, and a lack of digital literacy hurt real communities. We must tackle these challenges head-on.

3/ 2️⃣ Protecting Critical Infrastructure
Our digital & physical infrastructures face dual threats: cyber attacks and natural disasters. Strengthening resilience against both is non-negotiable as climate change intensifies these risks.

2/ Our priorities as PSIDS in the OEWG remain clear:

1️⃣ Building Capacity
We need better access to technology, training, and skilled personnel to fully participate in a safe, secure digital ecosystem. Without this, the digital divide will only deepen.

1/ 🌏Thrilled to be back in New York, advising Vanuatu and other Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) at the final sessions of the OEWG on ICTs! This critical process wraps up in July 2025, and the stakes couldn’t be higher for us. 🧵

If you think genocide, torture and rape are bad, you are "Russophobic".

🤔

11/ The only way to stop attacks like these is to establish credible deterrence of our own - going a lot harder and a lot more direct on them than we currently are. It’s preposterous that Russia is basically deterring us, containing us. The only way to achieve peace is if it was the other way round.

10/ The stakes are high: securing Europe’s supply chains is about more than logistics. It’s about safeguarding trust, stability, and resilience in the face of escalating threats. Unity and decisive action are our strongest defenses, our entire way of life under threat.

Fences, detentions, pushbacks – five questions about Lithuania's migration crisis answered LRT received a question from a listener after a radio programme on migrant detentions – “why is Lithuania the only count...

9/ Let’s not forget the 2021 border crisis, orchestrated by Belarus and Russia. Migrants were cynically used as tools of hybrid warfare to pressure Lithuania and the EU. These aren’t isolated incidents but a sustained campaign to destabilize the region. www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-e...

Two undersea cables in Baltic Sea disrupted, sparking warnings of possible ‘hybrid warfare’ | CNN Cables connecting Finland with Germany, and Lithuania with Sweden, have been disrupted, just weeks after the United States warned that it had detected increased Russian military activity around key un...

8/ Lithuania and the Baltics have borne the brunt of direct and indirect attacks. Just this month, undersea communication cables in the Baltic were sabotaged, likely by state actors. These acts test critical infrastructure and regional stability. edition.cnn.com/2024/11/18/e...

7/ Over the past year, we’ve seen a worrying intensification of hybrid threats linked to Russian intelligence. From cyberattacks to physical sabotage, Europe must unite against these multifaceted aggressions to defend our shared resilience.

6/ This isn't just a Lithuanian or DHL issue—it’s a direct attack on the principles of safety and cooperation that underpin European security. Every nation reliant on stable supply chains has a stake in this.

5/ If evidence confirms deliberate sabotage, this would mark yet another escalation in hybrid aggression. The international community must respond decisively. We cannot afford complacency. We have to admit to ourselves that we do not live in times of peace.

4/ Regardless of the investigation’s outcome, this crash reminds us of the urgent need for heightened vigilance. Critical sectors like aviation and logistics are increasingly targeted by state-sponsored or proxy actors. Security measures must be bolstered across Europe.

Russia’s aim is to ‘create havoc’ if it is behind DHL fires, says air freight expert Goal seems to be for people ‘to lose confidence in the system’, says Brandon Fried after devices found in Birmingham and Leipzig

3/ In July, a fire broke out at Leipzig Airport's DHL hub, linked to a package sent from Lithuania. The package contained incendiary devices. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...

Europe is under attack from Russia. Why isn’t it fighting back? Western countries have shied away from reacting to Kremlin acts of sabotage and terror.

2/ Credible intelligence from European agencies, including Polish and German sources, has pointed to Russia's use of sabotage tactics. This includes incendiary attacks on logistics networks, with links to Russian agencies. Coincidence? www.politico.eu/article/euro...

1/ 🚨 A DHL cargo plane has tragically crashed in Lithuania. While the cause remains unknown, this incident must be seen in the broader context of increasing hybrid threats targeting Europe. Let's examine the bigger picture. We do not live in times of peace.🧵

Every day we allow the Russians to continue the invasion, it creeps closer and closer to us.

Having had the job of protecting a country from Russian cyber attacks, I can say with all certainty that if Russia could turn all our power off, they would have done it already.

The West is good at protecting itself but there is no room for complacency.

Q: What's relation between Dollar, Pound and Ruble?

A: A pound of rubles is worth a dollar

Russia gave the RS-26 a range /just/ inside the technical definition of an ICBM so they could claim it didn't infringe the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. It is effectively, however, an Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missile, or IRBM.

Russia just calls it an ICBM because it's more scary.

Must-read thread by @gresselgustav.bsky.social - rightly trying to stem 'WW3' panic in some Western circles. Putin wants to intimidate the West; he doesn't want to end up provoking it. So far Biden, Scholz, & Trump advisers like Donald Jr have done a great job of ensuring Putin's efforts succeed.

Memorandum of Understanding on Notifications of Missile Launches (PLNS MOU)

US & Russia have agreement to notify each other of ICBM launches. Raises the question of whether Russia notified the US of RS-26 use & if that's why embassy was closed, or simply that US picked up - likely intentional? - signs of Russian preparations.
2009-2017.state.gov/t/avc/trty/1...

ICBM use serves one strategic goal for Russia - to provoke responses from opposition parties in the West (the likes of Corbyn who are happy to sacrifice Eastern European lives for some perceived notion of "peace").

The only way to stop the circle of escalation is for Russia to lose and withdraw.