On the occasion of the 22nd anniversary of Estonia’s accession to NATO today, 29 March, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said that NATO remains one of the cornerstones of Estonia’s security and that recent developments have demonstrated that the Alliance is capable of meeting expectations and fulfilling its tasks, while work to strengthen the Alliance and allied relations continues.
“In the 22 years since Estonia joined NATO, the global security situation has changed significantly. However, recent developments – such as the brazen violation of Estonian airspace by Russian fighter aircraft last September, as well as the threats to NATO Allies in the Middle East arising from the hostilities there – have confirmed that NATO acts decisively to ensure the security of its Allies and exactly as agreed,” Tsahkna said.
According to the foreign minister, the most important priority at present is to ensure that transatlantic relations remain strong and that Allies increase their defence spending.
“Increased investment in defence is essential to ensure that NATO can continue to safeguard Allied security successfully in the future and respond to threats in a 360-degree manner, while focusing primarily on the most serious and long-term threat facing the Alliance – Russia,” Tsahkna said.
“Estonia’s defence spending will exceed 5% of GDP already this year, and this is the level that all NATO Allies must reach as a matter of urgency in order to ensure all necessary capabilities. At the NATO Summit in Ankara in July, it will be important for Allies to demonstrate concrete progress in increasing defence expenditure.”
According to the foreign minister, Ukraine’s accession as a full member of the Alliance would also be important for strengthening NATO.
“NATO has stated that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, and accession would provide Ukraine with the strongest possible security guarantee. At the same time, it would strengthen NATO as a whole, bringing into the Alliance a country with real combat experience, which has also demonstrated during the ongoing hostilities in the Middle East that it possesses knowledge and technology unmatched by others. The accession of such a military force to NATO would be a major gain for the Alliance,” Tsahkna said.
On the anniversary of Estonia’s accession to NATO, the foreign minister also recalled that Estonia demonstrated its readiness to contribute to collective defence both before joining the Alliance and after becoming a member.
“Estonia began participating in NATO’s multinational ISAF mission as early as 2003, where Estonian personnel served alongside United Kingdom units primarily in Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan,” Tsahkna said. “In proportion to our population, we paid the highest price, as we lost nine of our soldiers in Afghanistan,” Tsahkna added.
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