Leo Kunnas (born 14 November 1967) is an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n former

military officer An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service. Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer, or a warrant officer. However, absent context ...

and a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

writer. Kunnas was born in Kliima village,

Võru Parish Võru Parish ( et, Võru vald; vro, Võro vald) is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Võru County Võru County ( et, Võru maakond or ''Võrumaa''; vro, Võro maakund) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga County and P� ...

. After graduating from the Finnish National Defence Academy 1994, Kunnas was the commander of the Defence Forces Battle School (Meegomäe, Võru). He was also the first commander of the Estonian Military Academy 1997-1999 (located in Tallinn at that time). In 2003-2007, he was the chief of the Department of Operations (J3) of the

Estonian Defence Forces The Estonian Defence Forces ( et, Eesti Kaitsevägi) are the unified military forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consist of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Esto ...

General Staff, holding the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. After graduating from US National Defence University (Norfolk, Virginia) he served 2005 as a staff officer in Operation Iraqi Freedom in MND-Baghdad 3.BCT. Kunnas resigned from active duty in autumn 2007. The reason for his resignation was the issue of change of Estonian constitution proposed to the parliament by President

Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth president of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the ...

. After his resignation, he has defended the following views in numerous articles: Changing the Estonian Constitution would be a serious mistake. Abolishing the President's role as Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces and giving the role to the Minister of Defense is dangerous. This change would not serve the civilian control over the Estonian Defence Forces, but would give the MOD officials unlimited power over the Estonian Defence Forces and would politicize the officers' and NCO corps. The Estonian nation should be ready to defend itself with a well-trained reserve-based army inside the NATO framework. The weak point of Estonian NATO membership is the lack of any military plans to defend the Baltics, which means that albeit help will eventually come (he is not arguing over Article 5), Estonia would be occupied without credible self-defence. He is referring to the 2003 RAND research, ''The Baltic States and NATO Membership''. Russia is the most serious geopolitical factor for Estonian security which will not be forgotten in defence planning. He argues that Estonia should plan for the worst-case scenario, and this is the reason for the rise in the Estonian reserve component up to 40,000 reservists (the wartime operational structure is currently at around 16,000). The Estonian MOD has done nothing to develop the credible self-defence capability and is focusing only on international missions. The reaction from the Estonian society and government circles is dualistic in nature. On the one hand, Lt. Gen (Ret.) Johannes Kert thinks that Leo Kunnas is one of the very few people in Estonia who has analytical and very clear vision of the Estonian defence issues. Estonian MOD officials (and especially ex-minister of defence Jürgen Ligi) are strongly against Kunnas' views.

Education

Leo Kunnas has studied history, philosophy and politics in the following universities: * 1989-1991 - Estonian Humanitarian Institute * 1991 - University of Helsinki Military education: * 1992-1994 Finnish National Defence Academy - 1.Estonian Officer Course * 2001-2002 Finnish National Defence Academy - Senior Staff Officer Course * 2005 US National Defence University (Norfolk, Virginia)

Military career

Estonian Army

* 1992

Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...

* 1994

Second Lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

* 1995

First Lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a s ...

* 1997

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

* 1999

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

* 2003

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

Belletristic Activity

Novels

* 1990 - "Kustumatu valguse maailm" ( ''The World of the Eternal Light'') * 2001 - "Sõdurjumala teener" (''Servant of the Soldier God'') * 2008 - "Gort Ashryn" I osa "Enne viimast sõda" (''Before the last war'') * 2009 - "Gort Ashryn" II osa "Sõda" (''War'') * 2010 - "Gort Ashryn" III osa "Rahu" (''Peace'')

Documentary Stories

* 2006 - "Viiv pikas sõjas" (''A Moment in the Long War'') - some parts are available on-line

Articles an Interviews in Estonian newspapers

* "Põhiseaduslik korratus ilma kaitseväe juhatajata" (''The Constitutional Disorder without the Commander of Estonian Defence Forces'')- ''Postimees'' 03.10.2007 * "NATO nõrgeneb - mida teha?" (''NATO is weakening - what to should be done?'') - ''Eesti Päevaleht'' 28.11.07 * "Eesti 2007: Pyrrhose võit" (''Estonia 2007: Phyrros Victory'') - ''Eesti Päevaleht'' 31.12.07 * "Lõiv õhukesele riigile" (''The idea of "thin" state'') - ''Eesti Päevaleht'' 29.01.08 * "35 viga iseseisva kaitsevõime ülesehitamisel" (''35 Mistakes of building up the Estonian Military Capabilities'') - ''Eesti Ekspress'' 07.02.2008 * "Eesti: raua ja verega sündinud riik" (''Estonia: State that has born from Iron and Blood'') - ''Eesti Päevaleht'' 21.02.08 * "Läti saatuslik valik" (''The Fatal Choice of Latvia'') - "Eesti Päevaleht" 06.03.2008 * "Eesti kui A-grupi potensiaalne konfliktikolle" (''Estonia as the A-Group conflict centre'') - "Eesti Päevaleht" 08.04.2008. * "Riigikaitse juriidiline rägastik" (''Juridical Maze of Estonian Defence'') - "Eesti Päevaleht" 20.04.2008. * "Müüt rahuaja kaitseväest" (''Myth of the peace-time army'') - "Eesti Päevaleht" 22.04.2008. * "Kaitsekulutuste suurendamine: mille arvelt?" (''How to raise defence expenditures?'') - "Eesti Päevaleht" 28.07.2008. * "Leo Kunnas: eestlased peavad oma riiki ise kaitsma." (''Estonians shall defend their country oneselves '') - "Postimees" 14.08.2008.

Trivia

At the age of 16, Leo Kunnas was sentenced to Soviet prison for attempted border crossing and possession of firearms. One of the prosecutors was Ain Seppik, a former Communist and current Estonian top politician. Kunnas looks back at the violent prison years in his novel, ''The World of the Eternal Light'', which won the ''

Looming ''Looming'' is a term found in the study of perception, as it relates directly to psychology. Looming occurs when an object begins moving closer to the eye. As the resulting image becomes increasingly larger on the perceiver's retina, i.e., when ...

'' annual award 1991. His novel "Sõdurjumala teener" (''Servant of the Soldier God'') earned the second place award at the Estonian novel competition of 2000. In 2007 the Journalists Association Estonia announced his article "Eesti 2007: Phyrrose võit" (''Eesti Päevaleht'', 31.12.07) as the best opinion article of the year.

Personal life

His wife Kaja Kunnas is a journalist. Leo Kunnas has three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kunnas, Leo 1967 births 20th-century Estonian novelists 21st-century Estonian novelists Conservative People's Party of Estonia politicians Estonian male novelists Estonian military personnel Estonian non-fiction writers Estonian science fiction writers Living people Male non-fiction writers Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Members of the Riigikogu, 2023–2027 People from Võru Parish Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class IV