During a bilateral meeting on 2-3 May, Estonian Minister of Defence Kalle Laanet and Norwegian Minister of Defence Bjørn Arild Gram discussed the security situation in the region and support for Ukraine. In addition, Minister of Defence Laanet gave his Norwegian counterpart an overview of Estonia’s proposal for strengthening the defence posture of NATO’s Eastern flank ahead of the NATO Summit in June.
“In the current security situation, it is important to immediately consider significantly strengthening NATO’s presence – NATO needs a reinforced forward defence posture on its Eastern flank,” said Defence Minister Laanet.
“When it comes to bilateral cooperation, Norway is an important ally for Estonia, both in NATO and in the Nordic region, for example, in air policing. We share similar views on regional security issues, we both rely on a reserve army, and there are many opportunities to expand bilateral cooperation,” Laanet added.
Norwegian Minister of Defence Gram also visited the cyber range CR14 and the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) to discuss possibilities for cyber defence cooperation. The new Open Cyber Range (OCR), which can be used for cyber security training, testing and developing cyber security technology, offers interesting opportunities. One of the partners in the OCR project is the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and the project is supported within the framework of the Estonian-Norwegian cooperation programme Green ICT.
Norway is contributing to collective defence through the NATO enhanced Forward Presence battlegroup in Lithuania, has participated in the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission on several occasions, and has deployed officers to the NATO Force Integration Unit (NFIU). In addition, Norway has made significant contributions to the development of the Baltic Defence College since its establishment.
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