Estonia Considers Rapid Military Reaction Capability of EU Necessary

25.07.2012

According to Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, the European Union should have real rapid military reaction capability, and in order to help with this Estonia is prepared to continue participating in the Nordic Battle Group in 2015.

Estonia is interested in the European Union having a strong and well-functioning security and defence policy. During the European Union foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels Estonia supported the development of capabilities, the usability of battle groups, permanent civil and military planning and leadership capability, and a co-operation framework for the EU and NATO.

The Estonian foreign minister said that the joint utilisation of capabilities is an area in which close co-operation between the European Union and NATO is necessary in order to avoid duplicate initiatives and activities, especially at a time when the defence spending of member states is decreasing. “For Estonia, it is important to find an opportunity to jointly use capabilities in the cyber defence sphere as well,” he noted.

On the topic of staffing European Union missions and operations, Paet said that the staffs of current missions should not suffer when a new mission is launched. “Before the decision is made to launch a new mission it would be necessary to carry out an ex ante appraisal of contributions in order to avoid creating problems with existing missions,” he stated.

Currently the European Union is planning three new missions in South Sudan, the Sahel region, and the Horn of Africa. These missions will bring the total for missions of the Common Security and Defence Policy to 15 active missions.

Additional information:
Helen Ennok, press spokesperson, Estonia’s Permanent Representation to the EU
+32 474 98 16 57