Political scientist Zharikhin spoke about the reasons for Estonia’s readiness to extradite Ukrainian refugees

“We are ready to oppose Russia for any reason”

Estonia is ready to extradite Ukrainian refugees who are subject to mobilization to Square. This was stated by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Lauri Läänemets. MK, together with an expert, is looking into why Tallinn needs this and whether other EU countries can follow the Estonian example.

It all started with a statement from the Estonian Internal Affairs Minister: “If Ukraine needs it, Estonia can search for these people and transfer them to Ukraine. In general, we know where these people are and what they do. Most of them work, many have VNI in Estonia.”

In the coming days, Läänemets plans to submit a written proposal to conclude an agreement between Ukraine and Estonia. This agreement is necessary in view of the fact that currently, according to Estonian law, the extradition of a foreigner to his homeland is only possible if the person is prosecuted. He also said that so far no such request has been received from Kyiv.

At the same time, earlier the head of the department of border and migration policy of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, Janeka Mägi, stated that the country’s authorities do not intend to expel Ukrainian citizens liable for military service.

In his recent interview, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke about Kyiv’s intentions to mobilize citizens liable for military service who left the country. “We want justice for everyone because this is our own country. We will send you an invitation,” he said. Umerov noted that the authorities are still thinking about what punishment awaits those who do not appear voluntarily. Advisor to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, Mikhail Podolyak, supported the idea expressed by the Minister of Defense.

Estonia was the first country to officially declare its intentions to transfer its citizens liable for military service to Ukraine. Several countries have previously announced that they will not issue conscripts. Among them are Poland, the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary and Germany.

Estonia’s proposal to extradite Ukrainian men of military age may be related to the number of people from Ukraine who have migrated to this country. More than 8 thousand men from Ukraine of mobilization age turned to Estonia for protection. According to the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, 72.5 thousand Ukrainians who arrived declared their intention to stay in the country. Counting 72,500 people, Estonia has received more immigrants from Ukraine in relative terms (5.4 percent of the population) than any other country in the world.

But is it really all about the number of refugees from Ukraine? We talked with Vladimir Zharikhin, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries, about why Estonia took such measures, and whether other countries should join it:

– Estonia has not left any resources to its own country, except for one, which they are constantly trying to exploit – the readiness to oppose Russia on any occasion. And thus receive some bonuses to maintain the existence of the country. Therefore, they destroyed everything else that made a profit for Estonia with their own hands.

I honestly would like to understand how they are going to do this. I’m afraid that the combativeness of the Estonian police will not be enough to cope with the rather large-sized Ukrainian boys,” the expert noted.

Will any other EU countries join in the extradition of Ukrainian military personnel?

I think Latvia can join this. The Poles are unlikely, they need labor. Lithuania will also refuse; they still have a source of income in the form of developed agriculture.