"Euroopa Liidu ja NATO nõrgenemine on oht Eesti julgeolekule. Eesti on ikka veel infrastruktuuris Venemaa osa. Selles on omad majanduslikud kasud, aga selles on ka julgeoleku küsimus ja ka teatud põhimõtteline geopoliitiline küsimus. Millisesse maailma me tahame kuuluda?Video versioon Ärilehes.
Euroopa liit toetab Eesti ühendamist Euroopaga. Selleks on Rail Balticu ja gaasiühenduse Baltic Connector projektid, samuti elektrivõrgu ühendamine. Rail Baltic on äratanud palju vaidlusi ja vastasseisu konkreetse trassi valiku asjus. See pole asi, mida peaksime lahendama jõuvõtteid kasutades.
Teeme rahvaküsitluse – kas Euroopa projekti Rail Baltic on vaja või mitte?
Kui rahvas arvab, et seda pole vaja, siis jääb ta ehitamata."
Minevikus on Eestis soomusrongid mänginud kriitilist rolli sõjapidamises Vabadussõjas. Venemaal on praegugi relvastuses raketisüsteem RT-23 kus saab rakette tulistada raudteevagunile monteeritud seadmelt. Tänapäeval ja tulevikus soomusrongid sama tähtsust ei oma, kuid sõjapidamise oluline komponent on logistika. Ja logistikas omab kiire otseteena Euroopasse suurt tähtsust. Paljud inimesed on väitnud, et raudtee Euroopaga ei ole oluline julgeolekualane arugment kuna raudteed saab ühe raketiga purustada. See on tõene osaliselt. Raudteed saab sõja kuumas faasis edukalt saboteerida, kuid sõja külmas faasis saab vajalikku tehnikat mööda raudteed tuua sõjakoldesse või sõjakolde lähedale. Rail Baltica omab olulist logistikatähtsust muuhulgas seetõttu, et Rail Baltica kuulub üle-euroopaliste transpordivõrgustike hulka.
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| KAART 1: Üle-Euroopalised transpordivõrgustikud. Allikas |
2012 aasta suvel (ka hiljem) toimusid USA-s suured logistikaõppused milles kontrolliti muuhulgas tehnika vedu raudtee abil.
Allikas: Youtube.
NB! Pöörata tähelepanu ka sellele, kui vaikselt rong sõidab.
Järgnevalt erinevatest videolõikudest koosnev ülevaade.
Allikas: Youtube
Veel üks ülevaatlik mitme erineva video lõikudest koosnev video: Youtube. Ka siin on näha, et enamasti liiguvad rongid mitte suure kolina vaid vaikse sahinaga. Kõige suurem mürareostus tuleb rongide viledest. Kuid Rail Baltica saab olema tarastatud, mitmetasandiliste ristumistega raudtee, järelikult on ka vile andmise kohustus väiksem. Rongid uuel taristul on oluliselt vaiksemad kui rongid mis praegu Baltikumis ringi sõidavad.
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Summary in English: Rail Baltica is a political project, among other things. And this is not neccessarily something bad. The EU has taken a decision long ago that Baltic countries must be connected with European core with physical transport connections. Siim Kallas pointed out that Estonia is already integrated to Western institutions, but the physical connections in the form of infrastructure has not yet reached Europe. Siim Kallas´speech on the Reform Party general assembly, covered by Delfi:
"The weakening of European Union and NATO is a security threat to Estonia. Estonia's infrastructure is still part of Russia. It carries some economic benefits, but it is also a security issue, and also a fundamental geopolitical issue. To which side of the world do we want to belong?Video version of the speech in Ärileht.
The European Union supports connecting Estonia with Europe. Rail Baltica and gas project Baltic Connector are meant for that, in addition the power grid connections. Rail Baltica has attracted a lot of controversy and confrontation on specific route selection matters. It's not a thing that we should solve by using brutal force.
Let's do a referendum - whether we need European project Rail Baltica or not?
When the nation thinks it is not needed, then it remains unfinished."
In the past, legendary armored trains have played a critical role for Estonia during War of Independence. Russia currently has missile system RT-23 in active duty where you can shoot missiles mounted on the railway wagon. Today and in the future armored trains do not have the same importance as in past, but logistics in general nevertheless is an important component of warfare. And a quick, direct shortcut to Europe carries a logistical importance. Many people have claimed that the railway connections for Baltics between Eueopean mainland is not an important argument in discussions about national security because railroads are easily sabotaged with a missile strike. This is true in part. Railroads indeed are successfully sabotageble during hot phase of the war. But railroads are very useful during cold phase of a war when necessary equipment can be transported directly to conflict areas or to near vicinity of the war theater. Rail Baltica carries important logistical significance, among other things because Rail Baltica belongs to the pan- European transport networks.
It is not possible to sabotage whole transportation network all around Europe. Even if one succeeds to sabotage some sections of railroad in the Baltic area, then the existence of the rail corridor means that it is realtively easy to quickly organize reconstruction works. It is equally important that the whole network can be used to reach conflict are as close as possible. Rail Baltica corridor (as a destination) can be accessed even when entry point (origin) is at the North Sea or at the Mediterranean Sea. When some Baltic sections of the railroad have been sabotaged, then trans-European transport links can be used for rapid troop deployment at least to closest point of conflict are as possible.
US had major logistical military exercises in the summer of 2012 where equipment was transported on the rail. Previously linked Youtube videos show benefits of having a train connection: transportation of military equipment with a train is much more convenient compared to other means of transportation. In addition pay attention to the fact that modern cargo trains are realtively quiet. The greatest noise pollution comes from train whistles. But Rail Baltica will have fences, multi-level rail crossings and because of that whistle blowing is significantly reduced. Trains on a new infrastructure are significantly quieter compared to trains currently railing around in the Baltics.
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