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Study: Support for businesses and security perceived as Estonia's most important foreign policy lines

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

10.06.2025 | 16:03

Today, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published a study on the attitude of Estonian residents to current foreign policy issues and Estonia's foreign policy.

The survey shows that the Estonian population considers its awareness of foreign policy moderately good, with 62% thinking that they are very well or rather well informed about foreign policy. Residents' opinions on Estonia's foreign policy and attitudes on foreign policy issues differ primarily on the basis of ethnicity.

The study points out that the people of Estonia consider creating opportunities for Estonian companies in foreign markets (38%), strengthening regional cooperation with the Nordic and Baltic countries (37%) and strengthening NATO's collective defence (33%) the most important foreign policy directions. The promotion of digital development and cyber capabilities (42%) are seen as Estonia's strengths in the world.

Another strength of Estonia that was highlighted was the promotion of education and e-education (36%) and the promotion of security and defence cooperation (33%).
More than half of the respondents (58%) thought that Ukraine should not make any concessions in peace negotiations with Russia. 74% of Estonians, 19% of Russians and 54% of other ethnicities agreed with this statement. 15-29-year-olds (73%) and people aged 75 and older (74%) were in the majority among the proponents of this statement.
When talking about Ukraine's security guarantees, 56% of those surveyed supported sending Estonian troops to Ukraine, while 39% did not support it. The greatest support (43%) was expressed for sending Estonian troops together with allied troops to Ukraine after the end of the war in order to ensure Ukraine's security.

Support for Ukraine's accession to the European Union is quite high, with 64% agreeing. 56% of respondents supported Ukraine's accession to NATO.
56% of respondents considered Estonia's support for Ukraine to be sufficient, 3% considered it too small and 36% considered it too great. Economic reasons rather than giving in to foreign pressure are seen as possible arguments for reducing support to Ukraine. However, 57% of those surveyed believe that continued assistance to Ukraine is necessary in any case.

NATO's presence in our region is considered important. 70% disagreed with the claim that NATO should rule out its military presence and exercises in Estonia and other Eastern European countries, as has been demanded by Russia.

Although the economic situation is complicated, 75% of respondents, including nearly 90% of the Estonian population and nearly 50% of the Russian population, supported the sanctions against Russia. 56% of the population also disapproves of economic relations with Russia, while 38% think that Estonia should also impose its own restrictive measures to reduce them.

When it came to shaping positions in the event of conflicts between the European Union and the United States, standing in solidarity with the EU member states and searching for a compromise were considered the most suitable lines to take for Estonia.

More than half of the respondents (56%) could not take a position on Estonia's policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 19% find that Estonia's policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is balanced, 19% consider it too pro-Israel and 6% consider it too pro-Palestinian.

The survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and carried out by Turu-uuringute AS this spring.

The full survey is available here (in Estonian): Välispoliitika raport