At today’s Summit Meeting in Prague NATO Heads of State and Government have extended formal invitations to Accession Talks with the Alliance to seven countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania included.
The Estonian Minister of Defence Sven Mikser and the Chief of Defence Vice Admiral Tarmo Kõuts made the following statement after the formal extension of the invitation.
Minister of Defence Sven Mikser:
“Today’s decision will for the first time in history give Estonia an opportunity to realistically participate in designing the world’s defence policy. The next few months will bring along intensive accession talks followed by ratification process in all NATO candidate countries. We have no reason whatsoever to doubt that NATO’s defence guarantee is real and is accompanied by huge amount of responsibility and duty. Estonia wants to become a good ally and give its small but dignified share to the global security guarantee.”
Chief of Defence Vice Admiral Tarmo Kõuts:
“Getting an invitation to accession talks is on the one hand real acknowledgement to the development of our defence forces, but in the wider scope it is the achievement of the whole nation. Each officer, civil servant, reservist and citizen has his share in it. This is not merely the achievement of the Chief of Defence, General Staff or the Defence Forces. This is the nation that is joining NATO and it is the decision of this nation. Achieving NATO membership is a serious economic effort for the whole nation.
Getting NATO invitation is a happy milestone on the long road of achieving full NATO membership. The Defences Forces are not in the position to rest or even to take a breath. All I can promise to my subordinates is that our service, especially that on the staff level will become even more intense because we have a lot to do.”
In the opening remarks at the Meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson said: “ We have the organization, the military capabilities and the will to deal with threats to our people and our security from wherever they may come. We are by far the world’s largest permanent coalition of free democratic nations.”