Estonia to take part in EU's Nordic battle group

Seppo Kääriäinen

print this

Estonia is likely to take part in a rapid deployment force of the European Union. The Finnish government decided on Tuesday to accept Estonia as the fourth member of the Nordic battle group that will be set up by three Nordic countries.
     
As for the details, Estonia will have to negotiate with Sweden, which is the leading country of the Nordic battle group.
      Estonia’s willingness to participate in the Nordic battle group was officially announced on Friday of last week, when Minister of Defence Jaak Joerüüt visited Helsinki. His colleague, Finland’s Minister of Defence Seppo Kääriäinen, promised that Finland would support their plan, and the government’s committee on foreign and defence policy decided on the matter officially at a meeting on Tuesday.
      In November Estonia still wanted to search for a partner, while Latvia and Lithuania said that they would participate in the Polish-led battle group that would include also Germany and Slovakia. Among the EU member countries, only Denmark and Malta plan to remain outside the EU rapid forces.
      Estonia has not announced yet what kind of contribution it could offer. According to the Finnish government, Estonia’s contribution could be quite small, maybe only a few soldiers.
     
The Nordic rapid deployment force would have about 200 Finnish soldiers. According to preliminary plans, the Finnish soldiers would include staff officers, intelligence officers, military police, an artillery group armed with mortars, as well as a protection unit.
      Moreover, the separate German-Dutch-Finnish battle group would have about 130 Finnish soldiers.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finns approve of EU combat forces - sharp differences between men and women (29.11.2004)
  Finland decides to take part in German-Dutch EU battle group (4.11.2004)
  Finland and Sweden agree to set up common EU military force (5.10.2004)

Helsingin Sanomat