President of Estonia: Russia violates the underlying principles of European security Saturday, March 5, 2016 11:01:04 AM

In an interview with CNN, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves stated that Russia has violated the principles of peace that have prevailed in Europe since the end of World War II.

“Well, my main concern is that the underlying principles of European security after World War II, which is you don't invade other European countries, has been undermined,” Ilves told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“And its one reason why we remain strong proponents of keeping sanctions… If this is not rolled back [Russian aggression], then there's no reason to lift sanctions and especially with a breakdown in the fundamentals of European security,” the Estonian President explained.

Ilves went on to state that Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014 was, in principle, “basically a repeat of the Anschluss of Austria in 1938.”

In addition, according to the president of Estonia, Russia undermines the unity of Europe using refugees, though Ilves did not go as far as General Phillip Breedlove’s assessment that Russia is using refugees as a type of weapon against Europe.

“Well, certainly, I mean, we have not seen that direct fallout. Finland has but we have not. Clearly, it feeds into nativist, anti- European attitudes on the part of individual members of the E.U. I mean I think that -- I wouldn't say weaponized but I would certainly say that it's instrumentalized,” Ilves stated.

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