Contents tagged with Estonia
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NATO Saber Knight exercise begins in Estonia
As reported by ERR, the press-service of the First Infantry Brigade declared that on Monday, May 30th, the Saber Knight international military exercises began in Tapa. More than 600 military personnel are participating.
Staff exercises will continue until the 9th of June. Their main task is to practice planning and conducting military operations in the Baltic states. These exercises will involve readiness to repel an attack from a simulated state called "Botnia,” the statement said.
Military …
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Estonia urges NATO to place Patriot anti-aircraft systems in the Baltic States
Estonian news portal Delfi reported that Riho Terras, the Estonian Defense Forces Commander, stated that the Baltic countries need Patriot missile systems to deter Russia from attacking.
He noted that insufficient air defense makes the Baltic region vulnurable to possible surprise attacks from Russia. According to Terras, NATO has the ability to increase the strength of the Air Force stationed in the region and form batteries of Patriot systems.
"For our defense capability it is very …
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Estonia urges NATO to increase its presence in the Baltic states
A strong NATO presence is required in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, according to Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas.
“We need NATO to provide a permanent military presence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. These forces may be subjected to a rotational schedule,” Rõivas said this in an interview with Die Welt newspaper, which was published on the 26th of May.
He stressed the need for the constant presence of these troops. “These troops should always be present to act as a deterrence,” Rõ …
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Estonian PM: Putin holds the key to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements
Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas stated in an interview with Die Welt that the key to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements is in Putin’s hands. "The restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity is an integral part of the Minsk agreements. But obviously, this is not happening,” he noted.
Rõivas emphasized that "It is Putin who is holding the key for this [implementation of the Minsk Agreements]. In my view, Russia should take two steps back if they want to continue to sit at the …
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Estonian court approves extradition of former separatist fighter to Ukraine
The Tallinn District Court granted an appeal filed by the Government of Estonia against the decision of the lower court and now, Estonian citizen Vladimir Polyakov, suspected of terrorist activity in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, can be extradited to Kiev, BaltNews reported. On May 19th, the Tallinn District Court granted the appeal filed by the Government of Estonia and overturned the decision of Tallinn Administrative Court of 3rd of February 2016.
The Court issued a new decision, according …
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Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs: Normalization of relations between Russia and NATO won't happen soon
The Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marina Kaljurand, stated that the normalization of relations between Russia and NATO shouldn’t be expected, Postimees reported.
“The normalization of relations between Russia and NATO isn’t expected, that is why the current policy on Russia will be discussed in Warsaw,” Kaljurand believes.
“The relations are frozen because Russia violated international law by annexing the Crimea,” the Foreign Minister added.
According to Kaljurand, the NATO-Russia …
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Estonian government to liberalize air travel with Ukraine
The Estonian government will lift the air travel restrictions that it had with Ukraine.
According to the Estonian daily, Postimees, and with reference to the website of the Estonian government, this issue was discussed at a meeting on Thursday.
An agreement on the organization of air transportation between the two countries was signed in 1993.
Estonian airline Nordica, in cooperation with Adria Airways, will operate direct return flights from Tallinn to Odessa starting from the 27th of May 20 …
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Media: British fighters escorted five Russian aircraft near Estonia
On Wednesday, Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets were scrambled to escort Russian military aircraft that approached Estonia, reports the Daily Telegraph’s website. British fighter jets left their base in Estonia and intercepted two Su-27 fighter jets flying with IL-20 electronic reconnaissance aircraft. Two more Su-27 fighters were detected and also intercepted.
The newspaper notes that Russian aircraft were flying in the international airspace along the northern and western borders of …
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Estonian Defense Minister favors the deployment of NATO equipment near the borders of the country
The Estonian daily newspaper Postimees reported that the Estonian Minister of Defense, Hannes Hanso, favored the deployment of NATO heavy military equipment near the country’s borders.
“We want NATO heavy military equipment to be deployed closer to Estonia rather than a thousand miles away from it. For our part, in alliance with Latvia and Lithuania, we will do our best to ensure simplified transportation of the units across the state border and provision of weapons to our allies,” Hanso noted. …
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NATO warships will arrive in Tallinn
The Ministry of Defense of Estonia reported that two NATO warships, one Spanish frigate and one British, will arrive in Tallinn next week, BNS reported. The warships are part of the Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG1).
The group consists of two warships, the Spanish Alvaro De Bazan frigate and the British Iron Duke frigate. The ships will stay in the capital of Estonia until the 15th of May.
The NATO warships will attend the Estonian Navy’s anti-mine exercises before entering the port of …