Katarina Metsger, from Estonia to Israel
A reflection on the effectiveness of deterrence

During a recent trip to Estonia, I met the Russian-speaking Estonian singer Katarina Metsger (also known as Jekaterina Kolpakova), born in 1982 (41 years old, in the photo). A singer-songwriter from Tallinn, performer, and showgirl, Katarina gained popularity in the Baltic countries and Russia in 2011 through her participation in various television shows, starting with a talent show for young musicians, successfully passing the auditions and making it to the final. "Tallinn, Olen Kuulus" (Tallinn, Im famous) was a show aired on Estonian Ttv, aimed at scouting talents to kick-start their artistic careers. A few acapella notes of Sam Brown's song "Stop" and the judges had no doubts. She was signed and among the various coaches, she was chosen to join the team of Ivar Must, a 62-year-old Estonian music producer, author, and composer, who is number one in Estonia. Those in the industry will surely know him. To give you an idea: the only time Estonia won the Eurovision Song Contest was in 2001 in Copenhagen, Denmark, with the song "Everybody" by Tanel Padar, Dave Benton, and 2XL, and the author was none other than Ivar Must. For his team, Metsger performed many covers of well-known and legendary songs, including "Long Train Running" (The Doobie Brothers), "How Do I Live" (LeAnn Rimes), "Shady Lady" (Ani Lorak), "Simply The Best" (Tina Turner), "Im Outta Love" (Anastacia), "Mamma Mia" (Abba). And "Pust budet" (in Russian, "So be it") by Must himself, which earned her a triple "10" from the jury (and it wasn't the only time), among the judges were Adolf Käis (director, actor, former director of the Russian Theatre in Tallinn, who passed away in 2013) and Silvi Vrait (a famous Estonian singer and English teacher, who also passed away in the same year). Vrait represented Estonia at Eurovision in 1994, but did not win, with "Nagu merelaine", a song, once again, signed by Must.

From TV to the most prestigious venues in Tallinn. Katarina Metsger, who studied piano and singing for 12 years, attended two music schools, the school named after Georg Ots and the Tallinn Music College. She has performed in the most popular locations in the Estonian capital, including the central restaurant "Cubanita," the charming "Scotland Yard Pub," and the refined "Pushkin Cafè," sometimes in a duet with the Russian-speaking Estonian singer Jekaterina Arkhipenko, known as Katya Tartu (duet Katyusha). Then an interview on SkyRadio, a Russian-language broadcaster in Tallinn, and another on "Raadio 4" for Dmitry Mikryukov's program "Demo" (https://r4.err.ee/754933/demo). Up to the Estonian public TV Err, for the broadcaster Etv+. Corporate events, weddings, evenings in restaurants and nightclubs. Katarina is a true talent: besides knowing Russian, Estonian, and English, she claims to be able to sing in all languages of the world. Indeed, she has performed singing in Italian, Spanish, American English, Hebrew, Latvian, Ukrainian, German, French, African, Sanskrit, Indian, in ancient Slavic languages, in Belarusian, in Estonian, and in Russian, her mother tongue. With a pronunciation that is nothing short of perfect. In 2011, the cosmetics company "Avon," to celebrate its 125th anniversary, organized "Avon Voices," a global talent search experiment among the USA and 60 other countries worldwide in search of female talent, in which Katarina in Estonia won first place out of 34 competitors. She also participated in "The Voice" of the Baltic countries, winning the prize awarded by the main sponsor "Redmond." Metsger has also released an original song, "Na craiu" (At the border) by Igor Lashkov, which she presented in international singing competitions.

Katarina has experienced war. For about three years, she lived in Israel, and she tells me about a country that has never had a true period of peace. Some areas were completely off-limits. The Israeli TV knows her as Katya Roiz. In 2017, a health problem forced her to reconsider her plans and give a different meaning and value to her life. Estonia is a country composed of various ethnicities, and a part of the population is native Russian speakers, so much so that Estonian/Russian language books are written symmetrically to allow Estonians to learn Russian and Russian speakers to learn Estonian. The two parts live peacefully together, and no one wants to be involved in a war that doesn't belong to them. Estonia is a member of the EU, the Eurozone, and NATO. According to analysts, it could be the first country to be invaded in the event of Ukraines defeat. Katarina dreams of "uniting people on Earth" and "all religions" through her vocal art. In 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine, she wrote a letter directly addressed to the President of the Russian Federation, Putin, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Estonian President, asking for peace, and demanded punishment for all those who, using ritualism, do not act in pursuit of good. Indeed, in Russia, Ukraine, and Estonia (a predominantly atheist country, with Lutheran/Estonian believers, Orthodox/Russian speakers), pagan rituals, magicians, and psychics are a reality to which the weaker often turn. And those who perform these rituals do not always act for the common good. Katarina somehow rejects them, fights them by criticizing them negatively, and denouncing their practices. Putin, like Netanyahu, through their respective offices, replied thanking her for her concern and considering the contents.

On March 28th, during the meeting with the Italian contingent in Lebanon, the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, reflected on Italy's role in Lebanon and the many of our soldiers engaged in the United Nations peacekeeping mission. In particular, the Italian operation is an integral part of the mission called Unifil (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). Established in 1978, Unifil is currently one of the longest UN peacekeeping missions, and the "Leonte" operation, in which our soldiers are involved, aims to contribute to the maintenance of peace and security in southern Lebanon. This is achieved through various activities, including monitoring and controlling the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, supporting Lebanese authorities in consolidating their authority in the area, coordinating with Lebanese security forces, and promoting respect for Lebanon's sovereign borders. It also aims to prevent the possibility of a civil war between the legitimate government and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Shiite political-military organization that enjoys considerable popular support, has a strong presence in the country, and whose relationship with the Lebanese government is tense on various issues, including security, domestic and foreign policy, and the country's economic management.
Addressing our soldiers, the Prime Minister said that "peace is primarily deterrence," explaining what the West aims for in supporting Ukraine, which is not to defeat Russia but to reduce its power to force the two conflict leaders to sit down and negotiate a fair peace. But not all analysts and opposition politicians agree with this method. So much so that the president is often criticized for not doing enough, for being unable to make Italy play a leading role in the search for peace, and for overshadowing the photo of three Western leaders in a three-way train car, Macron, Scholz, and Draghi, with the transfer of Italy's role to Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister. What to do then?

What governments don't do, people could do. How effective acting with deterrence is remains to be seen. The Italian newspaper Avvenire recalls the pacifist caravans of the #StopTheWarNow network, which brought food, medicine, and electric generators to Ukrainians. Or the doctors from the Ong Emergency who treat war victims in Sudan. And it explains that the "peace of deterrence" is more beneficial to the turnovers of the military sector. It makes it clear that the negative peace of terror must give way to positive peace made by politics, diplomacy, and peoples. Katarinas could be considered a concrete example. Writing a letter could be more effective than threatening the use of any nuclear weapon.

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