BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

NATO cannot defend Baltic States

Nato will be unable to defend Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania if Russia invades, German news magazine Spiegel reported on May 19, citing German government sources and leaked Nato documents.

German defense and foreign ministry officials told Spiegel it would take Nato six months to put together a response. “We wouldn’t even show up in time for the Russians’ victory celebration,” one German official said.

German mep Elmar Brok, a member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (cdu) and head of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs spelled it out plainly: “At present, the alliance could not protect the Baltic countries with conventional military means,” he said.

Nato documents express a similar concern. “Russia’s ability to undertake significant military action with little warning presents a wider threat to the maintenance of security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area,” states a draft copy of a restricted internal nato assessment, according to Spiegel. “Russia can pose a local or regional military threat at short notice at a place of its choosing. This is both destabilizing and threatening for those allies bordering or in close proximity to Russia.”

Taavi Rõivas welcomed home Estonian troops from Afghanistan

Prime Minister of Estonia Taavi Rõivas welcomed home the last Estonian troops from operations in Afghanistan, the Estonian Defense Ministry said in a statement. “Your families and the whole country have been looking forward to your return. Welcome home! The Estonian flag is back from Afghanistan,” said Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas.

The Prime Minister, on behalf of the Government, paid tribute to the valor and tenacity of the Estonian troops. "Today, I would also like to pay respect to all the previous contingents and your colleagues, nine of whom, sadly, lost their lives in the conflict," said Rõivas.

Rõivas said that the returning of the last contingent marked the end of Estonia’s participation in the ISAF mission, which spanned more than 11 years. The Prime Minister recalled that Estonia's participation started with six servicemen taking part in a mine clearance mission and grew into a permanent contingent of 150 troops, reports LETA.

According to the Prime Minister, our allies in Afghanistan recognized and appreciated the efforts of our troops and have said that the Estonians always lived up to and even exceeded the highest standards. "Afghanistan is definitely no longer the country it used to be; it is no longer a country that exports instability and terrorism," said Rõivas.

"However, what is more important to Estonians is that Estonia is secure; we have strong defense forces and excellent relations with our NATO partners," said Rõivas. Minister of Defense, Sven Mikser, presented the troops of Estcon-16 with medals of recognition for international missions.

Yesterday, the Estonian flag was lowered at Camp Bastion, Helmand, Afghanistan, marking the end of the participation of the Estonian Defense Forces in the long-term operation. Today, the last Estonian contingent, Estcon-16, and Estonian company Estcoy-17 returned home from Afghanistan.

UK troops fly out to Estonia for military exercise

More than 100 UK troops are to fly out to Estonia to take part in a military exercise, as tensions between Ukraine and Russia continue.

The troops are to be joined by Defence Secretary Philip Hammond. The military exercise will mark the first time UK military forces have been sent to Eastern Europe since the unrest in Ukraine began.

BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Beale said the move was "an act of reassurance" to the UK's Baltic allies. He added: "But it is also meant as a signal to Russia that Britain is ready to play its part in defending the alliance."

The troops, reported as being from the 1st Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, will leave from RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire on Friday.

Tensions

Last month four RAF Typhoon fighter jets left their base in Lincolnshire and flew to nearby Lithuania to help carry out Nato's air policing role of the Baltic states.

As part of his trip, Mr Hammond is also expected to visit the crew of those fighter jets. The US announced in April it had also sent troops for military exercises, but to Poland, which borders Ukraine. An initial 150 US soldiers were followed by a further 450 within days.

At the last estimate some 40,000 Russian troops are stationed near the Ukrainian border, but Moscow is reported to have expressed concern about Nato's increased activity in the area. Eastern Ukraine has a large Russian-speaking population and was a stronghold for Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych before he was overthrown by protesters in February.

Russia then annexed the Crimean peninsula - part of Ukraine but with a Russian-speaking majority - in a move that provoked international outrage.The crisis has since plunged East-West relations to their lowest point since the Cold War, defence experts say.

NATO ships arrive in Lithuania amid Ukraine tensions

Five NATO ships arrived Friday in the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda to bolster defence in the region amid tensions with Russia over Ukraine, the Baltic state's defence ministry said.

At a ceremony, Defence Minister Juozas Olekas welcomed the ships -- four minesweepers and a support vessel from Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia -- as NATO seeks to reassure Lithuania and other jittery member states in the region.

"The arrival of NATO ships is yet another sign of NATO unity and solidarity," Olekas told AFP by phone after the ceremony in the western port city. He called NATO's increased presence a "deterrence measure" against Russia, which has an estimated 40,000 troops massed on Ukraine's eastern border.

NATO deployed the naval group to the Baltic Sea last week, saying it indicated "the alliance's commitment to the safety and security of the Baltic member states". The Lithuanian defence ministry said the NATO ships would also visit other Baltic ports and participate in a mine-hunting operation in neighbouring Latvia later this month.

About 600 US troops have been sent to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland in recent weeks, while Britain, France and Denmark have sent extra fighter jets. British defence minister Philip Hammond will visit his troops at Lithuania's Siauliai air base later on Friday.

Russian actions in Ukraine have rattled nerves in the Baltic states, which were occupied and annexed by Moscow during World War II.

Ukraine’s wake-up call for NATO

For years leaders of this Baltic state were an irritant at NATO meetings, insisting to eye-rolling ambassadors from Western Europe that Vladimir Putin’s Russia was a revanchist power bent on destabilizing and dominating its neighbors. Now they voice grim satisfaction that what was once dismissed as paranoia has become the West’s conventional wisdom.

But the satisfaction has its limits. “The thing about being a Cassandra, being right is not necessarily great,” President Toomas Ilves told a security conference here over the weekend. “Because if you have read your ‘Iliad,’ you know she dies.”

Estonia and the two other Baltic republics swallowed by the Soviet Union in 1940 are a good place to see how the Ukraine crisis is transforming what for two decades has been the “post-Cold War order” in Europe. Suddenly the Baltic countries are not tiny backwaters, but “frontline states” on a continent once again dominated by a standoff between Moscow and the democratic West. But the satisfaction has its limits. “The thing about being a Cassandra, being right is not necessarily great,” President Toomas Ilves told a security conference here over the weekend. “Because if you have read your ‘Iliad,’ you know she dies.”

A company of U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade soldiers is flying into Tallinn Monday, part of a deployment of 600 U.S. troops in Poland and the Baltic states. F-16s from Denmark are since Wednesday at an airfield newly designated as a NATO facility. In Brussels, NATO is debating whether to make the deployment of troops and planes to the region permanent, thereby scrapping a 1997 pledge to Russia not to station forces in the central and Eastern European countries that joined the alliance after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Ten NATO allies to back Baltic States

Ten countries have suggested strengthening the airspace above the Baltic States, the Estonian Ministry of Defense has informed DELFI reported.

According to representatives of the Estonia’s Defense Ministry Artur Jugaste, the United States, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, Canada and Turkey have informed about their preparation to send the additional forces to the Baltic States. Jugaste has highlighted that the list of these countries can be expanded.

Moreover, the representative of the Estonia’s Defense Ministry has informed that the above-mentioned countries suggest various services, for example, to send the additional fighter aircrafts, fuel tankers and AWACS planes.

“Every country’s contribution will be applied,” said Jugaste. “The soldiers of these countries will be performing their tasks from Lithuania’s Siauliai Air Base and Poland’s Malbork Air Base as well as from Estonia’s Amari Air Base.”

Jugatse has highlighted that the determination of so many countries to strengthen the air-defense of the Baltic States gives the evidence about their loyalty to NATO’s collective defense and about the serious our allies’ attitude towards the regional security.

“Everything is included in the package of the retention measures which was adopted by the North Atlantic Council last week in order to strengthen the security in the Baltic Sea Region,” emphasized Jugaste.

NATO minesweepers set off on Baltic deployment

KIEL — Five NATO mine-hunting ships have set off on a deployment in the Baltic Sea — part of the alliance's efforts to strengthen its presence in Europe's ex-communist east as members there worry about Russia's intentions in Ukraine.

The ships — two from Norway and one each from the Netherlands, Belgium and Estonia — left the German port of Kiel Tuesday. The exercise, under Norwegian command, is to continue until the end of May, with the ships visiting several ports.

Commodore Arian Minderhoud, the NATO Allied Maritime Command's deputy chief of staff for operations, says the exercise "is part of the whole package of ... actions to show NATO's resolve, to show NATO's preparedness."

NATO said last week it was strengthening its military footprint along its eastern border.

NATO to open air base in Estonia in response to Ukraine conflict

Tallinn - A military airport in Amari, Estonia, will be converted into a base from which NATO will increase its surveillance of the Baltic air space, the Estonian ambassador to NATO confirmed on Thursday.

The move is a part of efforts on the part of NATO to ramp up the Baltic air policing mission it launched in 2004, Lauri Lepik told daily newspaper Postimees.

"Estonia has been saying for a long time that the Baltic air policing mission could have two bases - one in Siauliai, Lithuania, and another in Amari, Estonia," he told the newspaper.

"Several allies have offered to provide more aircraft, which makes it possible to open a second base," he said, adding that the construction of the base could be completed this year.

The news comes in response to the crisis in Ukraine and the illegal incorporation of Crimean into the Russian Federation.

Copyright Dpa

NATO boosts air patrols in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia amid regional security concerns

VILNIUS — Lithuania says six U.S. fighter jets and two tanker planes have arrived in Lithuania following a U.S. decision to increase NATO's air policing mission of the three Baltic states.

The Defense Ministry in Vilnius said Thursday that the F-15C Eagles were deployed from the RAF Lakenheath air base in Britain, and will join four other fighters in patrolling the air space of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced Wednesday that the United States was stepping up the defense of its allies in Europe in response to Russia's military move into Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

NATO's Baltic air patrols are carried out from the northwestern base of Zokniai in Lithuania.

U.S. F-15s performing Estonia independence flyby diverted to intercept Russian spyplane

On Feb. 24, Estonia celebrated its independence day.

Part of the celebrations was also a military parade in the city of Pärnu. U.S. F-15C fighters belonging to the 48th FW, currently deployed to Lithuania’s first air base in Zokniai, near Siauliai, took part to the flyby but they were forced to do double duty since they were first diverted to intercept a Russian plane.

Unfortunately,  no details about the aircraft that was intercepted were released. The official statement by Estonian authorities says only: “Fighters identified the plane as a spy plane belonging to Russia.”

The U.S. Air Force has four F-15s from RAF Lakenheath deployed to Lithuania to undertake air policing in the Baltic states. The aircraft have replaced the Belgian F-16AMs and, since January, they guard the airspace over Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, whose air defense is provided on a rotational basis by 14 NATO states since 2004.

Estonia sends 150 troops to Afghanistan

Estonia has sent 150 troops to Afghanistan as part of its NATO mission.   The troops were deployed on Nov. 3  and will serve in the Helmand province.  

A spokesman for the Estonian Ministry of Defense told the Baltic Times the troops would be the last contingent before Estonia pulls its soldiers out of the country.   "The Estonian president has said we will bring back our troops sometime next year.

Rayyan Sabet-Parry

Estonia cold on joint Baltic armed forces idea

Estonian Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu and other defense policy makers have pored cold water on the idea of uniting the armies of the three Baltic countries, an idea most recently pitched by Latvian President Andris Berzins in an interview to the media on Friday.

“The current setup, where there is three separate militaries that cooperate and form temporary joint units for international tasks, is optimal,” Reinsalu told ETV on Sunday.

“The numbers currently are such that Estonia contributes 2 percent [of GDP to defense], and Latvia and Lithuania contribute a combined 2 percent. Also, in absolute sums, Estonia spends more on defense than either Latvia or Lithuania,” said Reinsalu, adding that neighboring Russia has doubled defense spending in the past four years.

“The armies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania differ by size and structure. Latvia should focus on increasing defense spending to 2 percent of [GDP] first,” reserve Lt. Col. Leo Kunnas said.

Current cooperation projects between the three countries include joint procurements, temporary units on foreign missions for NATO and the EU, air defense and the Baltic Defense College in Tartu.

Estonia completes military drills with NATO Allies

Tallinn - Estonia completed on Saturday large-scale military drills, which began on May 9 and involved some 5,000 military personnel, including from NATO allies, the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces said. The Spring Storm (Kevadtorm) drills have been held annually in different parts of Estonia since 2003.

This year they were held in northern and central Estonia and involved for the first time units from the UK, Belgium and Poland as well as the Estonian navy, according to the Russian (RIA Novosti) News Agency.

"Our military servicemen gained experience of cooperation with pilots from Poland, air defense experts from Belgium, infantrymen from Britain, Latvia and Lithuania by participating in joint drills," Estonian Commander in Chief Gen.-Maj. Riho Terras said. NATO allies were represented by an infantry company from the UK and Latvia each, a reconnaissance platoon from Lithuania and an anti-aircraft missile platoon from Belgium.

The exercise also involved Polish attack aircraft SU-22, Estonia's training jets L-39, light helicopters R-44, light transport planes An-2 and French Mirage F-1 aircraft, according to Estonian newspaper Postimees. Estonia, as well as two other ex-Soviet republics in the Baltics - Latvia and Lithuania, joined NATO in March 2004.

Estonia holds military drills with NATO allies

Tallinn - Estonia will hold annual military exercises involving about 4,500 personnel from several NATO countries on May 9-25, the General Staff of the Estonian Defense Forces said. The Spring Storm drills have been held annually in different parts of Estonia since 2003. This year they will involve for the first time units from the UK, Belgium and Poland as well as the Estonian navy.

"Spring Storm will this year bring together in North Estonia conscripts, reservists, Kaitseliit [Estonian paramilitary organization] members and professional military, as well as our NATO allies with one common goal - to learn to better defend Estonia," said the commanding officer of the exercise, Commander of the Army Col. Artur Tiganik in a statement relayed by Russian Ria-Novosti news agency .

NATO allies will be represented by an infantry company from the UK and Latvia each, a reconnaissance platoon from Lithuania and an anti-aircraft missile platoon from Belgium.

In addition, an unspecified number of Polish Sukhoi Su-22 attack aircraft will take part. Estonia, as well as two other ex-Soviet republics in the Baltics – Latvia and Lithuania, joined NATO in March 2004.

Two NATO F-16 jets make emergent landing at Tallinn

TALLINN — Two NATO F-16 jet fighters made emergent landings at Tallinn Airport in Estonia on Monday, after one had collided with a bird during their training flight.

Upon landing, technicians determined that the engine had been damaged, Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) reported late Monday.

The ERR report quoted Tallinn Airport press representative Lauri Linnamae as saying that “it would be safer to leave the plane here for now.”

The two Royal Danish fighters were doing flying in Baltic skies as part of NATO’s airspace policing mission.

Denmark is holding the rotating responsibility for providing fighters for the Baltic airspace policing mission from January to the end of April.

2 new legislative acts to modernize Estonia's national defence

The new Defense Forces Services Act and the new National Defense League Act, both of which entered into force today, make the national defense system more up-to-date and introduce significant reforms, reported LETA the Estonian Defense Ministry.

The new Defense Forces Service Act establishes a new set of health requirements for professional Defense Forces members and conscripts. The previous ones were made more flexible and the system for assessing physical condition has also been updated.

For instance, those with food allergies whose special needs can be accommodated by the Defense Forces no longer have to sit out military service. Actual performance aptitude, not just a medical diagnosis, will be taken into consideration in assessing the condition of those subject to military service.

Under the new Defense Forces Service Act, women will have the opportunity to enter the military service. To this point, conscripts were considered to be men, but now women can also voluntarily shoulder defense forces obligations and serve on a similar footing to that of men.

Riigikogu okays new international mission of Estonian military

The participation of Estonian military at international missions expands since the Riigikogu gave on Tuesday a mandate to send 15 navy members to the NATO permanent marine forces group, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

Estonia contributes, in addition to the military already sent to EU anti-piracy operation this year, with up to 15 ship crew members under NATO. The Estonian military will participate at operations on board military ships that belong to Germany.

The tasks of the military include guaranteeing security of ships, inspection of civilian ships and their cargo, with the aim of ascertain ships involved in piracy.

NATO member states' military ship units are used at antipiracy operations in the Indian Ocean and the anti-terrorism operation in the Mediterranean.

Estonia 35th most militarized country

Estonia is fairly high up on the list of countries that are the most militarized, according to a German index.

According to the World Militarization Index, Estonia was 35th, clearly more militarized than the other two Baltic states. Finland was 27th. All of the countries in the Middle East appear in the top 40; Iran is 34th, for instance.  

The index takes into account not just budget or military prowess but also factors in population - thus the US comes in 30th and not first as it would on budget alone. In a nutshell, the index shows how important a state considers its fighting ability to be in light of its limited resources.

Back in 2000, Estonia placed 65th with Latvia in 90th and Lithuania in 78th. By 2009, the countries were 37th, 78th and 52nd, respectively. Latvia is now back in 90th while Lithuania has dropped to 60th.

On base with the British-led units about to take over as Nato's global Response Force

Next January, British troops take over the leadership of Nato’s Response Force, a quick-strike unit of soldiers from 15 countries, ready to tackle everything from disaster response to an enemy invasion.Terri Judd joins them as they make their final preparations …

Precisely an hour before midnight, the Pathfinder Platoon parachutes in to the airfield. They are here to join up with special forces soldiers, who were sent ahead to observe the terrorists who have infiltrated this island off Estonia. Their task: to recce landing sites for the troops who will soon follow.

Over the water, Estonia's president has declared a state of emergency. The terrorists, who have taken over the island of Hiiumaa, forcing its frightened inhabitants to flee in boats, are also wreaking havoc with roadside bombs on the mainland. In the country's capital Tallinn, the police's rubber bullets and tear gas fail to quell daily uprisings by an increasingly hysterical population.

Most ominously, to the north, across the Gulf of Finland, enemy troops are massing on the border, a dark shadow looming over the Estonian Defence Forces on the other side. The country is on the brink of war. For days, Nato's Response Force, backed by troops from Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade, has been waiting for the political stamp of approval to strike out; now they have it and the Pathfinders are the tip of the spear.

At dawn, an F-18 fighter jet begins circling the island, jamming enemy ........ read it all here ........ cuts and an electorate weary of a bloody conflict in Afghanistan.

Estonia to pull out from Afghanistan together with NATO : Ilves

Estonia will not pull out from Afghanistan separately from other NATO member countries, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said on Friday as he bid farewell to the ESTCOY-15 infantry company that is leaving on a mission to Afghanistan.

"Estonia sticks to the "Come Together, Leave Together" principle in shaping the future of the NATO operation in Afghanistan," the president said.

"Estonia's infantry company will cease operations in Afghanistan jointly with the U.S. contingent, no later than in 2014. I am confident that the mission of our Defense Forces will continue even if our presence in Afghanistan ends," the chief of state said.

He described the Afghan situation as complex and stressed the importance of efficiency from the Afghan central authorities, curbing corruption and suppressing insurgents.

"Local residents are tired of the conflict; they tend to support the party that can bring peace and such necessities as a judiciary, free trade and others," Ilves said. The Estonian parliament ordered 170 Defense Forces soldiers sent to Afghanistan.