Estonia is ready to receive up to 5,000 NATO VJTF High Reaction Joint Forces soldiers on its territory, Estonian Secretary of Defense Kusti Salm announced on Monday.
“It simply came to our notice then that the Baltic region needed to be strengthened in line with the deterrent policy. There are precise plans, how to do this in case of need “, said the Estonian official.
At the same time, Kusti Salm said that if NATO decides to send more troops to the eastern flank, they could be deployed to another country. From the point of view of military efficiency, it would be wise for some units to be located, for example, in Romania, he added, reports the Estonian Public Broadcasting ERR, quoted by Agerpres.
Kusti Salm added that in the Estonian city of Tapa there is already an area for receiving allies, where equipment, weapons and where it could be distributed to units can be stored.
He assured that “no one will be left without a roof over their heads” and that Estonia is ready to build new barracks for the Allies if they are deployed in the Baltic Republic on a permanent basis.
The Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defense recalled that the decision to send a NATO military group to Estonia under the leadership of the United Kingdom was taken at the end of 2016 and that already in April 2017 the Allies arrived in the republic.
“During this time, the infrastructure was successfully created. (…) I have no doubt for a second that we will be able to repeat this performance if such a need arises in the near future “, he said.
During the NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016, it was decided to deploy NATO multinational battalions in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland. The Estonian battalion is commanded by the United Kingdom, the Latvian battalion is led by Canada, the Lithuanian by Germany, and the Polish by the United States.
The group deployed in Tapa currently has more than 1,000 soldiers.
Editor : M.B.
