Defence related cooperation between Poland and Estonia is very good and will intensify further during the process of implementing decisions reached at the NATO Warsaw Summit, during the course of which Allied units will be arriving in our region, said Minister of Defence Hannes Hanso, who met today in Poland with Minister of Defence Antoni Macierewicz.
“In terms of the future of the security of our countries, the Warsaw Summit was very successful,” said Hanso. “In particular, implementing the plans for the reinforced presence of our Allies will significantly increase the security of our region and encourage even closer cooperation between our defence forces when it comes to exercises and training.”
In addition, Hanso also noted the need for cooperation between Poland and the Baltic States in order to simplify and speed up the border crossing procedure for NATO Allied Forces.
“We are working actively to ensure that the repositioning of Allied Forces within our region can be carried out as smoothly as possible, so that political level decisions will not be required every time an individual soldier wishes to cross the border,” said Hanso.
Estonia and Poland share a 100% understanding regarding the security challenges facing our region. We are in agreement that Russia’s actions in disregard of international law are unacceptable and require a very clear and unambiguous condemnation.
Poland and Estonia are among those NATO Member States whose expenditures on national defence are at least 2% of GDP. The two countries are engaged in close defence related cooperation. This summer, the 5th Infantry Company of the 7th Mechanised Infantry Battalion of the 17th Mechanised Infantry Brigade of the Polish Armed Forces conducted training exercises in Estonia. Attack aircraft and anti-aircraft units from the Polish Air Force have repeatedly participated in the major Defence Forces’ training exercise Kevadtorm, and Poland has contributed fighter aircraft on six occasions to NATO’s Baltic air-policing mission.
Estonian servicemen are serving at the Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast, located in Poland, while Polish experts are working at the Estonian NATO Force Integration Unit headquarters and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. Poland recognises Estonia's achievements in the field of cyber defence and wishes to further strengthen cooperation in this field.
