Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur participated in the meeting of Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) defence ministers in Amsterdam, where the ministers took part in a table-top exercise to practice the role of the Joint Expeditionary Force role in peacetime crisis escalation and the transition to supporting NATO activities with a focus on the North Sea and the Baltic region.
“The Joint Expeditionary Force, with its military readiness and rapid response capabilities, plays an important role in ensuring defence and deterrence. The table-top exercise confirmed that the defence ministers from Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) partner nations have a very similar understanding regarding the speed and essence of the necessary decisions. The aim of the decisions at the political level is to enhance military cooperation between members, to ensure a sufficiently rapid response to the threats against critical undersea and offshore infrastructure,” said Minister of Defence Pevkur.
“The strength of the Joint Expeditionary Force lies in its ability to respond quickly militarily and, if necessary, to support each other through military assistance, thus sending a clear message of deterrence to the adversary,” Pevkur noted.
The main discussions at the meeting of defence ministers following the exercise focused on the military assistance being provided to Ukraine, the future vision for the Joint Expeditionary Force, and its role in dealing with hybrid threats.
A new long-term vision for the Joint Expeditionary Force and a joint statement of the meeting of defence ministers were also approved.
The Joint Expeditionary Force is a coalition initiated and led by the United Kingdom, which also includes Estonia, Holland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. Areas of focus for the coalition are the Baltic Sea region, the High North, and the North Atlantic region. Upon activation of the Joint Expeditionary Force, Great Britain will provide the necessary command and control elements, which the Member States will supplement with their own capabilities.
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Photo: UK Department of Defence Twitter