EU Defence Ministers met in Finland as part of a two-day informal meeting with the situations in Bosnia, Sudan/Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo being the topics of today’s discussion.
The EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR-Althea) received special attention. Since 2005, Estonia has been participating in the EUFOR-Althea with up to 34 members of the Estonian Defence Forces (ESTGUARD-2). EUFOR-Althea is the first international operation for Estonia to be implemented on the basis of the Defence League. A further development of EU military capabilities was also addressed. The Estonian Minister of Defence, Mr. Ligi stressed that “military capability plans must proceed from the current reality. In other words, each country has only one army. The development of the Estonian Defence Forces must be based on common principles and will fulfil the objectives set by EU and NATO”.