The Minister of Defence of Estonia, Jaak Aaviksoo, was today answering the questions of public representatives, which focused on defence-related procurement, during Question Time in the Riigikogu. The Minister invited the critics of a stable defence budget to enter a public discussion regarding Estonia’s security political solutions.
The Minister of Defence used the dialogue with the members of the Riigikogu to judge the reproaches that interpreted the defence budget of 2009 as a tool for supporting a foreign weapons industry. Mr. Aaviksoo also criticised the allegations that the state was acquiring systems in spite of the difficult economic situation and that the relative share of defence budget to gross domestic product could be cut even more.
“The sitting government has agreed, in the coalition agreement, that national defence expenses will be increased to two per cent of GDP by 2010 to develop the national defence capabilities. In the draft negative budget, submitted to the Riigikogu today, the Government went for a consensus compromise, which involved cutting the defence budget by 667 million Estonian kroons or to 1.75 per cent of the estimated gross domestic product.
This amounts to a cut of almost 14%, which is the largest when compared to the other government sectors. Considering the difficult budget situation, such a cut is acceptable; however, these cuts also translate into real consequences for national security. Today’s national defence funding setback must be of a temporary nature and a new, realistic schedule for developing our reliability must be agreed upon as speedily as possible. The reliability meant that the military national defence budget or our contribution is the foundation of the collective defence principles,” Mr. Aaviksoo later commented.
In responding to questions of the Riigikogu, Mr. Aaviksoo explained that the rumours pertaining to using the defence budget of 2009 to support a foreign weapons industry with large-scale procurements are plain lies. “The budget cuts hit the acquisition of defence-related supplies and materials the hardest – the respective volume must be decreased by one fourth. Contracts for large-scale procurements and long-term projects, included in the Ministry’s current year’s procurement plan, contribute to 87% of the decreased budget. The only new procurement contract in 2009 is the three-dimensional air surveillance radar project, which, it is planned, will be jointly implemented with Finland. An amount, cut down to a critical limit, has been left in the procurement plan to commence with performing this contract,” Mr. Aaviksoo said.
“The surveillance of airspace adjacent to NATO’s eastern border is a capacity gap of the alliance; Estonia has postponed performing the respective agreements twice, and we’ve been forced to feel embarrassed on both occasions. I have heard that some of Estonia’s leading politicians are still reproaching the government, alleging that the current defence budget is being used to “pep up a foreign weapons industry”. In considering the aforementioned, I can only assume that the allegations concern the radar procurement. If the radars or reconstruction of the Ämari Airfield, in line with NATO standards, are being targeted, I invite any politician, who questions these projects, to participate in a public discussion concerning any alternative security political solutions that Estonia could use. I’m willing to discuss these issues with the critics,” the Minister of Defence later said.
Comments