NATO Parliamentary Assembly Defence and Security Committee discussed issues of further cooperation of the Alliance in the light of the conclusions of the Chicago Summit. 

The Minister of Defence Urmas Reinsalu discussed the issue from Estonia’s point of view. He stressed the importance of collective defence, which should maintain its military potential and capability even in economically difficult times. Reinsalu explained the Estonian national defence model which is based on the primary defence capacity of the state as well as on NATO collective defence. He stressed that both directions are important due to the geopolitical position of Estonia. Reinsalu referred to the conclusions of the Chicago Summit, which say that the collective defence greatly benefits from maintaining all the military capabilities, including units that can work together. He expressed his firm belief that NATO will remain a powerful and steadfast military alliance. But this requires political, military and financial efforts from all allies. 

The report of the Commander of the Defence Forces Brigadier General Riho Terras highlighted the importance of continued full support of Estonia to operations led by NATO. 

At the afternoon sitting, word will be given to the chief rapporteur of the Committee in issues of Afghanistan, member of the Estonian delegation to NATO PA Sven Mikser. 

The Riigikogu Press Service