Estonian Defence Minister Margus Hanson is in Sweden for a two-day official visit Monday and Tuesday, in the course of which he will meet his Swedish counterpart Leni Bjorklund.
The aim of the visit is to exchange information, reaffirm relations between the countries and plan co-operation in the new context where Estonia is a member of NATO and the European Union.
In defence cooperation this means a change in points of emphasis, where accepting of support and aid is replaced with usual good-neighborly relations and a more contentful discussion of defense and security policy-related topics.
In the morning Hanson paid a visit to the Swedish General Staff where he was briefed on reforms in the Swedish Defence Forces.
He was scheduled to meet with the Swedish Defence Minister Leni Bjorklund in the second half of the day. The main topics of that meeting will be bilateral Swedish-Estonian defence related co-operation and the development of a dialogue in ESDP-matters; NATO/PfP and the development of the Estonian Defence concept and the Civil Crisis Management topics.
Also to be talked about are the Baltic Defense College (BALTDEFCOL) and Baltic Security Assistance Management Group (BALTSEA) projects in which Sweden has played an outstanding role.
On Tuesday the Estonian Minister of Defence will visit the Vaxholm naval regiment and look at an exercise there.