Estonia, Finland to enhance defense cooperation

Estonia and Finland have signed a bilateral framework agreement for closer defense cooperation, said the Estonian Ministry of Defense on Thursday.

Signing the agreement on Wednesday in Helsinki during his first official visit abroad, Estonian Minister of Defense Margus Tsahkna met his Finnish counterpart Jussi Niinisto in Helsinki on regional security, the promotion of bilateral and Nordic-Baltic cooperation as well as on European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) related topics, said the press release.

Tsahkna said that Estonia and Finland share a geopolitical environment, which also necessitates close cooperation, terming the agreement as a confirmation of both countries' desire for "even closer and more regular defense cooperation" on the basis of the current bilateral cooperations.

The two countries aim to enhance cooperation in the fields of defense policy, information exchange, capacity development, defense education, defense exercises and crisis regulation.

On Tuesday, Tsahkna and U.S. Ambassador to Estonia James D. Melville signed a bilateral agreement on defense cooperation between Estonia and the United States that will regulate in more detail the status of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their dependents as well as contractors of the U.S. Armed Forces residing in Estonia.

The agreement was approved by the Estonian government on Jan. 12 and has yet to be ratified by the Estonian parliament. Endit