The Chairman of the National Defence Committee Marko Mihkelson is participating today at a high level security conference in Warsaw where he is discussing the security of the Baltic Sea region in a panel.

“Russia’s behaviour is becoming increasingly aggressive, which forces the EU and NATO Member States to intensify regional cooperation to ensure the security of the Baltic Sea region,” Mihkelson said.

The discussion focuses on ensuring the security of the region. Mihkelson will be discussing the threats to the Baltic States and Poland with Swedish State Secretary to the Minister for Defence Jan Salestrand, Latvian Minister of Defence Raimonds Bergmanis, and Lithuanian former Minister of Defence and current member of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence Rasa Juknevičienė. Other participants include Deputy State Secretary of the Polish Ministry of the Maritime Economy Krzysztof Kozłowski, as well as representatives from the Polish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and National Defence.

Other panels will discuss opportunities for regional cooperation, modernisation of the Polish navy, and the needs and means of naval deterrence on the Baltic Sea.

One of the objectives of the conference is to assess the possible cooperation of navies of various countries on the Baltic Sea. Poland is currently modernising its navy, and hopes to learn from the experiences of other NATO countries.

The former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, Head of Department for Military Capability and Operations at Ministry of Defence of Sweden Magnus Bergman, former Minister of National Defence of Poland Tomasz Siemoniak, and Chairman of the National Defence Committee of the Polish parliament Michał Jach will also participate in the prestigious conference.

Yesterday, the Riigikogu discussed a report on the same subject NATO Deterrence in the Baltic Sea Region: Current Situation and Perspectives, compiled by the National Defence Committee.

Riigikogu Press Service

Epp-Mare Kukemelk
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