Hanno Pevkur discussed Russia, Ukraine, NATO and the upcoming presidential election during his visit. He emphasized the need for U.S. support in Ukraine.
"At the end of the day, the goal of Russia is not to take the territory of Ukraine," he said to the class. "At the end of the day, they want to weaken the west, the collective west, they want to show that we are not functioning, that NATO is not functioning."
Kenaya Allen is a senior studying political science and asian studies at Augustana. She's working towards a career in diplomacy and says the discussion gave her a glimpse into what her future holds.
"Very exciting, like the nerves were very high," she said. "I had a thousand questions really running through my head as he was introducing new topics, I was like, I could ask him this or wait, I could ask him this!"
Estonia has ties to the Quad Cities area already. Lewis Machine and Tool Defense in Eldridge previously produced over 16,000 rifles for the Estonian military.
