Yesterday in Brussels at the meeting of EU Defence Ministers during the launch of the European Union Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine (EUMAM), EU Member States were called upon to provide training to Ukrainian Defence Forces throughout the territory of the EU.
“We welcome the launch of the European Union Training Mission and, of course, we are ready to contribute. We have already trained Ukrainian soldiers in Estonia, and will continue to provide training to Ukrainian servicemen on Estonian territory within the framework of the European Union mission,” said Minister of Defence Pevkur.
EU defence ministers also discussed the sustainability of the European Peace Facility, which covers assistance to Ukraine. “We urgently need to agree on an increase of the European Peace Facility, and this decision must be made this year. The European Peace Facility must double to at least EUR 10 billion to support Ukraine in the war,” Pevkur said.
In addition, the defence ministers discussed the EU military presence in the Sahel region of Africa. Estonia supports moving forward with the new EU military partnership mission in Niger, which would be in line with the requests of Niger and the training needs of the their defence forces.
Minister of Defence Pevkur also met with Spanish Minister of Defence Margarita Robles to discuss defence cooperation and the priorities of both countries ahead of the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius next summer. Spain has contributed to NATO’s Baltic Air Policing, is one of the founding members of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia, and is part of the NATO battlegroup in Latvia.
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Photos: Meeting of European Union Defence Ministers (15/11/2022) | Flickr