The youth branch of the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) suggested on Wednesday that the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) as well as other security authorities should exercise "more caution" when giving non-ethnic Estonian officers access to government secrets, because "blood is thicker than water."

Sinine Äratus (Blue Awakening) told the Baltic News Service on Wednesday that EDF Maj. Deniss Metsavas, who is suspected of having given away state secrets to Russian military intelligence service GRU, has done "severe damage" to Estonia's national security.

"This could have been prevented if the Estonian Defence Forces and other security authorities had taken into consideration Metsavas' non-Estonian origin," Blue Awakening said.

"Metsavas seemed to be the poster boy for integration as it has been so far," Ruuben Kaalep, chairman of EKRE's youth branch, said. "The only logical explanation for his actions is that blood is thicker than water. Loyalty is not guaranteed by Estonian citizenship or even a soldier's oath given to the Estonian state. Loyalty is based on a feeling of ethnic belonging and a bond with one's ancestors," Kaalep said.

Integration has failed, as it aims to raise rootless citizens of the European Union, not Estonian patriots, he went on. Kaalep further told the BNS that caution must be exercised with citizens of foreign origin with access to positions of power. This is why Sinine Äratus wants what it calls 'foreign origin' to be treated as a complicating circumstance that requires further "loyalty checks."

Ethnic profiling is consistent with the ethnic or racial profiling policies currently used by the police in many Western countries, Sinine Äratus said, referring to common practice in the United States as well as elsewhere. Even though the practice is limited by law, immigrants are also effectively profiled by the police in several Western European countries, they said.

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