Mr. Ligi, Minister of Defence, has responded to the plea from Afghanistan to all nations to contribute additional resources for armament assistance and the conduct of training by saying, “Estonia is prepared to equip the Afghanistan army with 400 AK-type rifles together with the necessary ammunition”.
Among other things, Mr. Jürgen Ligi confirmed that Estonia would increase the participation of the Estonian Defence Forces in Afghanistan from 79 to 120 members by the end of the year. Estonia is currently participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in the Helmand province together with the military from the United Kingdom and Denmark.
The participating nations also found that for the democratic reconstruction of Afghanistan it is important to establish a joint fund for the rapid recovery of war damages in addition to ongoing military operations.
Tomorrow, preparations for the Riga Summit will be discussed and the NATO-Russia Council’s official meeting will be held.