On Wednesday morning, the National Defence Committee participated in the reopening of the monument for the members of the Defence Forces who have fallen in Afghanistan, and placed a wreath at its base. The monument was brought to Paldiski from Helmand.

“The special thing about this monument was the decision to bring it back home after the end of the mission,” said the Chairman of the Committee Mati Raidma. “With our military mission in Afghanistan now at its end, the moment has arrived for the memory of our fallen brothers in arms to be consecrated on their native soil,” Raidma said.

After the Committee met with members of the Defence Forces deployed in Afghanistan in 2010, it decided to initiate, together with the Estonian Reserve Officers’ Association, a collection to erect a monument in a military base in Afghanistan in honour of the members of the Defence Forces who had lost their lives during missions. In October of the same year, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and the Chairman of the National Defence Committee Mati Raidma inaugurated a monument in the Camp Bastion military base in Helmand desert.

A year ago it was agreed during a National Defence Committee meeting that the monument would be brought back home after the end of the mission and would be placed in front of the Paldiski Scouts Battalion grounds.

Estonia is celebrating Veterans Day today and the Riigikogu is proceeding a Bill to make 23 April a flag day.

Pictures.

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