The Estonian Government held today an additional e-meeting to announce a regular defence readiness exercise for 669 reservists from 6th to 10th of December. The notifications to the reservists will be sent out by the Estonian Defence Forces.
The Commander of the Defence Forces General Riho Terras has proposed to invite the reservists from the 13th mechanized infantry battalion of the 1st mechanized infantry brigade. The reservists are required to appear to the Defence Forces Jõhvi garrison no later than tomorrow morning at nine o'clock.
“I would like to thank in advance all the reservists, their employers, family members and loved ones. The contribution of all the reservists called to the exercise is extremely important,” said Prime Minister Jüri Ratas. “Defence readiness exercises enable us to make sure we are ready to increase our defence readiness when needed. Security does not happen by itself, therefore, it is necessary to conduct regular exercises also during peacetime, in order to develop our rapid response capacity from the Government level to the reserve units,” Prime Minister added.
Defence Minister Jüri Luik stated that the Government pays compensation to the reservists participating at the exercise. If the Government’s compensation is smaller than the reservist’s salary, the employers are encouraged to compensate the wage gap or maintain the salary fully, which will be a significant contribution and set an example to others. “I want to recognize all the employers whose perceptive attitude towards their employees’ participation in the defence readiness exercise is of utmost importance. Having a good specialist away for a few days can be a challenge for some companies, but your support will make a valuable contribution to Estonia’s security,” said Minister Luik.
The National Defence Act provides an opportunity to organize a defence readiness exercise, which tests the combat readiness of the Estonian Defence Forces with a short notification period, instead of the regular advance notice of 120 days. The defence readiness exercises allow to test the Estonian Government command and control system. Similar defence readiness exercises take place also in other countries.