Estonian Defence Minister: NATO to Stand by Collective Defence

May 22, 2012 defpro.com

At the meeting of NATO defence ministers’ in Chicago Sunday evening, Minister of Defence Urmas Reinsalu emphasised that NATO should preserve the combat experience gained in Afghanistan also after the end of the operation there.

“In a situation where the current NATO operation in Afghanistan is drawing to a close, we must make an effort to preserve the experience gained on the battlefield. To that end, planning by NATO needs to be enhanced and military exercises need to be held more often, including in the Baltic region,” said the Minister of Defence.

According to Minister of Defence Reinsalu, the Defence and Deterrence Posture Review approved at the Chicago summit is advantageous for Estonia. “The analysis shows clearly that NATO will retain its current conventional military capabilities, needed for the collective defence of all the countries of the Alliance,” said the Minister of Defence.

“What is more, NATO must be able to deploy its military force rapidly within its territory, which will increase the sense of security of all of its members,” Reinsalu pointed out.

Minister of Defence Urmas Reinsalu also met with his Dutch colleague, Hans Hillen, in Chicago yesterday, mainly discussing the air policing of the Baltic States and collaboration on cyber defence and procurement.

“I would like to thank the Netherlands for its support in achieving the long-term solution of the Baltic Air Policing operation and I also hope to see Dutch fighters in our airspace in the future. Furthermore, we enjoy good collaboration with the Netherlands in the area of procurements, certain to continue in the future, too,” Reinsalu said at the meeting.

With the involvement of the NATO defence ministers, a contract was also signed in Chicago to set up Alliance Ground Surveillance, under which unmanned reconnaissance aircraft will be procured for NATO, providing the Alliance with up-to-date surveillance capability to conduct combat operations successfully.