The National Defence Council met yesterday at President Ilves’s invitation

Archived Articles | 07 May 2009 | EWR

The National Defence Council, which met in Kadriorg yesterday at the invitation of President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, focused on national defence financing and the future of military cooperation between Estonia and the United States.

Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo provided the National Defence Council with an overview of the military defence budget, which is based on a sustained spending level of two percent of GDP.

“It is clear that in the current economic situation, where costs are being cut in every field of activity, the national defence must also demonstrate solidarity,” President Ilves acknowledged. “At the same time, it is clear that unlimited costs cannot be made in national defence costs, because after a certain limit is exceeded, the concepts and plans we have developed to date will become pointless and Estonia’s national defence capability will suffer significantly. It is the task and responsibility of politicians to strike the optimal balance.”

At the meeting of the National Defence Council, it was recognised that the United States is, and will continue to be, one of Estonia’s most important political and military allies. In a situation where the Iraq mission has ended for the Estonian Defence Forces, it is important that the government recently made the decision to send an infantry company to safeguard the security situation in Afghanistan during the upcoming presidential elections.

At the meeting of the National Defence Council, the plans to send an Operational Mentor and Liaison Team to Afghanistan next year to train their military were also discussed.

The National Defence Council is an advisory body of the President of the Republic. The Council membership includes the President of the Riigikogu, the Prime Minister, Chairman of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu, the Foreign Minister, Defence Minister, Minister of Finance, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Justice, and Commander of the Defence Forces.

Office of the President
Public Relations Department

Archived Articles

The reverberations of Soviet totalitarianism in Finland: Sympathies and contradictions (II) (1)
Translated from Imbi Paju’s article in “Maailma Vaade” (View of the World).

This year 70 years have passed since the signing of the ...

How to Liberate an Economy
Entrepreneurs understand the importance of freedom in the workplace

Guy Sorman, TCS Daily

Brian Carney and Isaac Getz's Freedom, Inc. is a ...

Lessons from Estonia: Protecting the West from a computer attack
Väino Reinart, National Post, October 22, 2009

The cyber attacks carried out against Estonia in the spring of 2007 served as a wake-up call about ...

Opening statement by Mark Carney Governor of the Bank of Canada Press conference following the release of the Monetary Policy Report 22 October 2009
Good morning. Paul and I are pleased to be here with you today to discuss the October Monetary Policy Report, which we published this morning.

...

Welcome home
It is high time to abolish the concept of ethnic minorities
Europe.view column, Oct 22nd 2009, from Economist.com

Should the Polish ethnic ...

Moscow Patriarchate’s efforts to subordinate ‘alternative Orthodox’ undercut Russia’s future, Regelson says (2)
VIENNA, October 22 – The Moscow Patriarchate’s drive to subordinate all independent Orthodox bishops and believers to its own power vertical, an ...