French Army deputy chief of staff operations major general Wallaert and French deputy commander of Land Forces Command in Europe brigadier general Guillot are visiting French troops in Estonia and meeting the Commander of the Estonian Division major general Indrek Sirel.
“The French Armed Forces are engaged in Estonia within the NATO Battlegroup together with British forces. They contribute directly to strengthening NATO’s defense posture and to the benefit of the Estonian Defence Forces. In addition, the Estonian Defence League train intensively with the French light infantry company for 3 months. This demonstrates the excellence of the bilateral ties we have maintained,” said major general Wallaert.
French officers are members of the Estonian Division Headquarters and there is currently a French unit which is part of the NATO Multinational Battlegroup with Estonian 1st Brigade. Different French units have actively participated in exercises with both Estonian Defence Forces and Defence League. France alongside with the UK and USA is one of the key contributors to armed forces in Estonia.
„The French contribution to NATO Battlegroup and UK reinforcement brigade is very important to us. In addition, French personnel is training with our territorial defence units and will obtain best possible insight and experience of our conditions from local soldiers, and our members of Defence League are practicing cooperation with Allied troops at the same time. We are planning several exercises together with our French partners and very soon we will start using French self-propelled howitzers. Cooperation with the French Armed Forces is very intensive“, told major general Sirel while addressing extra gratitude to the French officers serving in Estonian Division Headquarters.
Estonian Division is transferred to the NATO chain of command and subordinated to Multinational Corps Northeast. Estonian Division fulfils two main purposes in the military defence of Estonia: it unites the battles of the territorial defence forces, brigades and units from other commands and acts as a link between the Allies and their military capabilities. Estonian Division includes units from Estonia and Allied countries. Estonian units in Division are 1st Infantry Brigade, 2nd Infantry Brigade, Logistics Battalion, Headquarters and Signal Battalion, ISTAR Battalion and Artillery Battalion.
