Wednesday, Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces, Major General Riho Terras met with the Finnish Minister of Defence, Carl Haglund to discuss ongoing and future cooperation projects.
Major General Terras and Minister Haglund confirmed that the joint cooperation in the European Union Training Mission Mali, which began a month ago has been effective. “The Estonian and Finnish units activities in Mali with the Nordic-Baltic training teams have established a strong foundation for joint cooperation in future operations,” Terras said.
There is currently a unit of six combined personnel at the training mission in Mali from Estonia, Finland and Sweden as well as Latvian and Lithuanian instructors with the Nordic-Baltic training team.
Commander of the Defence Forces and the Finnish Defence Minister discussed the participation of Estonian and Finnish units in the ongoing mission. The Commander of the Defence Forces assured Estonia will continue to contribute to the Mali mission.
Terras and Haglund also touched upon the possibility of organizing joint procurements. Estonia and Finland recently had a positive experience in a joint radar purchase where Estonia procured two and Finland 12 Groundmaster air surveillance radar units.
The Commander of the Defence Forces invited Finnish units to participate in the annual Kevadtorm exercise.
Estonia and Finland share close ties since the re-establishment of the Estonian Defence Forces. Several officers have graduated from the Finnish Staff College and received military degrees. Estonia and Finland work togheter in the areas of logistics and weaponry.
Finland has supported the development of the Navy and the Air Force since their re-establishment. The Defence Forces utilize Finnish designed armoured vehicles in Estonia and in operations in Afghanistan.
In the morning, at the Ämari Air Force Base, the Commander of the Defence Forces was acquainted with the Finnish jet fighter F-18 Hornet, first time in Estonia for the NATO Baltic Regional Training Event.