The Estonian Reform Party will appoint MP Jürgen Ligi as the new finance minister in the incoming three-party coalition government, outgoing Finance Minister Mart Võrklaev announced, ERR reports. Ligi served as defence minister in 2005-2007 and finance minister in 2009-2014. He has also served as foreign minister and education minister. Moreover, Võrklaev said that Reform…
The commander of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF), General Martin Herem, has calculated that funding needed for additional ammunition amounts to around EUR 3.2bn, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur revealed, ERR reports. He said that the critical amount of funds needed was EUR 1.6bn. The calculation was based on the targets to be destroyed in a…
Estonia’s Minister of Defence, Hanno Pevkur, said that the Estonian Defence Forces believed that the country’s defence spending could rise to 4.5% of GDP, ERR reports. However, Pevkur emphasised the need for a “reasonable limit” due to investments in health care, social welfare, and education. He acknowledged the desire for increased spending on defence given…
The Balticconnector gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland was damaged deliberately by human activity, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur stated, ERR reports. The undersea gas pipeline was closed due to a leak. Pictures taken at the scene indicated that the damage was done by “something greater than a diver or unmanned submersible,” Pevkur said. He…
Finnish authorities suspect that Russia attacked the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia, Finnish daily Iltalehti reports. The undersea pipeline in the Gulf of Finland was closed due to a leak on 8 October 2023. At the same time, telecommunications operator Elisa’s data cable between Finland and Estonia was damaged as well, ERR reports. Finnish…
The Estonian Reform Party does not want its leader, Kaja Kallas, to resign as prime minister, despite a scandal over the involvement of Kallas’s husband in business with Russia, ERR reports. Kallas has repeatedly insisted that she would not resign, and said that her party was not looking for a new prime minister, either. Following…
Estonia’s Minister of Defence, Hanno Pevkur, has approved a defence plan for 2024-2027 to increase the country’s military capabilities and defence forces, ERR reports. Pevkur said that Estonia would acquire “significantly more and better weapons, ammunition, and equipment,” as well as invest in people and infrastructure. The defence plans include investments in the Ämari Air…
Estonia’s Defence Minister, Hanno Pevkur, and UK Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace have signed a joint declaration on integrating British and Estonian forces, BNS reports. Under the plan, a British brigade due to be deployed in Estonia will operate within an Estonian division. Also, UK staff officers will be embedded into the command of the…
Estonia does not need a permanent NATO brigade, Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur stated, ERR reports. He noted that Estonia already has more than 2,000 allied troops permanently stationed in the country. Estonian society would not be prepared for the construction of another large military training area in the country, he argued. Also, an additional deployment…