National Defence Committee: practice of NATO collective defence made a powerful impression

On Monday, the National Defence Committee visited the large-scale military exercise Kevadtorm (Spring Storm) of the Estonian Defence Forces, and the Committee members met with the Commander of the Brunssum Joint Force Command, General Hans-Lothar Domröse.

“General Domröse assured us that NATO is taking the task of and preparations for collective defence very seriously. Our exercise, Kevadtorm, has brought together nearly 6000 people from nine countries, “said the Chairman of the Committee Mati Raidma.

Raidma rates Kevadtorm as important for Estonia because this is where the plans are transferred from paper to reality, in cooperation with conscripts, professional members of the Defence Forces, voluntary members of the Defence League, and military personnel of other countries.

Raidma thanked Domröse for good cooperation in developing collective defence capacity. “NATO collective defence is visible here and now, and is sufficiently convincing. In the security environment of Europe today, this has a great value for our people,” Raidma said. Domröse acknowledged and thanked Estonia for contributing two percent of its GDP to national defence.

The phase of the exercise witnessed by the Committee in Helme on Monday was where fighter planes made three air strikes and were fired at in response. Kevadtorm is taking place on 5–23 May in South Estonia and is called Steadfast Javelin 1 from 16 May onwards, when the command is taken over by the Brunssum Joint Force Command. This year’s exercise is the largest ever.