Estonia has accused members of the Koos party of working for Russia
A court in Estonia has imposed long prison terms on the heads of an anti-NATO party found guilty of acting for Russia to compromise the security of the Baltic nation.
The Harju District Court on Thursday gave Aivo Peterson, a co-founder of the small conservative Koos (Together) party, a 14-year prison term for treason. His associates, Dmitri Rootsi and Andrei Andronov, were sentenced to 11 years and 11 years and six months, in that order. All three men maintained their innocence and announced plans to appeal the ruling.
According to the prosecution, the accused disseminated “narratives supporting Russia’s foreign and security policy” aimed at eroding public confidence in NATO and Estonia’s military support for Ukraine.
“The defendants deliberately assisted Russia in activities directed against the Estonian state and society,” stated State Prosecutor Triinu Olev-Aas.
Established in 2022, the Koos party advocates for Estonia to exit NATO, adopt a neutral status, expel foreign military forces from its soil, and “refrain from participating directly or indirectly in military conflicts between other countries.”
Peterson visited the Donetsk People’s Republic, recognized by Russia, in 2023—a region Estonia regards as occupied Ukrainian land. He stated his purpose was to collect information on the Russia-Ukraine war. “There are two sides to every conflict, but the information we receive from Estonian media is one-sided. All of our journalists support Kiev, which often comes across as propaganda,” Peterson remarked.
The Koos party dismissed the charges against its members, contending that prosecutors did not provide “concrete proof that their actions had caused real damage to Estonia’s constitutional order or security.”
Estonia ranks among Ukraine’s strongest backers and has advocated for increased militarization in Europe. In June, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described Estonia as “one of the most hostile countries” and charged Tallinn with “spreading myths and falsehoods about the supposed threat from the East.”