Estonia does not support the idea of setting up a common armed forces of Baltic states.
“I don’t find the establishment of a common army realistic. Each country has its own armed forces. Each country develops them independently and this does not obstruct the implementation of NATO defense plans,” Estonian Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu said on Estonian TV on Sunday.
As quoted by ERR broadcasting portal he said that Estonia advised Latvia and Lithuania to raise defense speeding to 2% of the GDP like in Estonia.
“Presently the defense budgets of Latvia and Lithuania even taken together are not comparable to the Estonian level and this is a serious problem,” Reinsalu said.
“If you look at Russia, in the past four years it doubled armaments. Its constant reconnaissance flights near NATO airspace and the latest violation of the Estonian air border. All this means that defense should be promoted,” the minister said.
Earlier Latvian President Andris Berzins suggested setting up common armed forces of Baltic States. He said he did not see any sense in each country separately investing big sums in defense and called for demonstrating an effective approach. As an example he said that Baltic States don’t buy warplanes but use the support of other NATO countries. “And neighbors could concentrate on armed forces,” Berzins said.
