Estonia: Russia should stop being a bully

TALLINN, Estonia, April 3 (UPI) -- The president of Estonia said Friday that Russia ought to stop bullying its neighbors.

In an interview with Austria's Der Standard, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said the move would help restore NATO's confidence in the region, RIA Novosti reported.

Speaking to Der Standard, Ilves said Moscow's row with Georgia in August spoiled cooperation between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"The least NATO wants in order to restore confidence in its relations with Russia is that it stops bullying its neighbors," the president was quoted as saying.

Ilves also criticized Moscow's proposal on a new security system in Europe.

"I think this proposal -- to destroy a well functioning system and then demand that it be replaced -- is not very constructive," he said, noting that international bodies had the capacity to cope with a potential "military invasion of Europe."