National Defence Committee approved allocation of additional half a billion euro to defence

At the additional sitting of the National Defence Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) today, Minister of Defence Kalle Laanet gave an overview of the Government’s decision to use additional funding to improve the defence capability of the state, and the Committee approved the allocation of additional funds.

Chairman of the National Defence Committee Enn Eesmaa underlined that in today’s security situation, each additional euro helped improve the defence capability of our country. “Developing of defence sector and maintenance of military capabilities are very expensive, but at the moment a greater contribution to national defence is inevitable,” Eesmaa said.

In the opinion of Deputy Chairman of the National Defence Committee Leo Kunnas, we are moving in the right direction, but creation of medium range air defence capability and financing it still require a firm resolution.  

According to Minister Laanet, the Ministry of Defence was given the task to ascertain in four months whether Estonia was able to develop of medium range air defence capability in cooperation with the allies. He said that the NATO allies were able to provide this. The aim is to achieve medium range air defence capability by 2025.  

Laanet gave the National Defence Committee an outline of what Estonia could acquire to enhance its defence capability during the next two years for the additional 562 million euro allocated by the Government. From this, 476 million euro are meant for strengthening national defence and 86 million will be invested in society’s capability to cope in crisis situations. The Minister explained that all today’s investments required funding for maintenance, which means that the national defence spending would increase also in the coming years.

According to the Minister, the aim is to acquire short-range air defence for protecting our troops, besides that, anti-tank weaponry and indirect fire capabilities will be developed and the necessary infrastructure to receive the allies will be built. Laanet said that Estonia would use Ukraine’s lessons for improving its defence capability.

Minister Laanet highlighted the role of the Defence League and noted that the aim was to strengthen the structure of territorial defence as well as to further train and equip the members of the Defence League.

In January, the Government allocated additional 340 million euro to national defence, which Estonia will use to buy ammunition and improve early warning.

Source: Parliament of Estonia