Estonian foreign minister urges NATO to annul 1997 Founding Act with Russia

By Murat Temizer

WARSAW (AA) - The Estonian foreign minister urged NATO member states Tuesday to annul the Founding Act signed in 1997 with Russia because of Moscow’s threatening policy.

Urmas Reinsalu attended a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels where he told journalists that Russia's plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus was a continuing threat policy from Moscow.

"I call on NATO member states to throw, to trash the 1997 Founding Act, which stipulates to not deploy military units and technologies at the Russian border," he said. "This document is now invalid and each of its articles have been betrayed by Russia. Hence it deserves to be in the trash bin."

Reinsalu said: "Russia is a danger to Europe's security and a strategic enemy."

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in March that Russia will complete the construction of a special storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, sparking fierce international criticism.

- Finland's accession to NATO

Reinsalu also welcomed Finland's accession to NATO. "The Baltic Sea is literally becoming a NATO sea," he said.

The minister also expressed his wish to see Ukraine join the alliance one day.

* Writing by Nur Asena Erturk in Ankara