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“We are here to show that France contributes to cooperation between NATO allies and also to serve together with our allies of Estonia and the United Kingdom,” said the commander of the French contingent, Colonel Michel de Mesmay, adding that French soldiers have past experience involving good cooperation with Estonians in the Central-African Republic as well as anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden.

The first 50 French servicemen who are part of the combat group arrived in Estonia today. France will be contributing a total of 300 servicemen to the combat group which will be stationed at Tapa. The French will be contributing to the combat group for the next eight months, after which they will hand over responsibility to the Danes.

The combat group is comprised of nearly 1200 allied soldiers. France has announced that it will be contributing a unit of 300 servicemen, who will be armed with Leclerc tanks, VBCI infantry fighting vehicles, and VAB armoured vehicles. The United Kingdom has announced that its contribution to the combat group will be an armoured unit of 800 servicemen, which will be armed with Challenger 2 tanks, Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, as well as AS90 mobile artillery, and armoured vehicles.

Last June, at the Warsaw Summit, the leaders of NATO’s 28 member countries decided, as a result of the changed security situation, to deploy NATO battalion combat groups to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The United Kingdom is the lead country for the NATO combat group to be stationed in Estonia, with France and Denmark being contributing countries.

We are connected to the Brits, the Danes, and the French by long-term defence related ties and a brotherhood in arms arising from joint participation in international military operations. 

“Participation by servicemen from the United Kingdom, France and Denmark is a clear sign that the member states of the alliance stand together in the defence of peace and freedom. With your presence here in Estonia you are defending all of NATO, not just Estonia,” said Minister of Defence Margus Tsahkna to the Brits who arrived at Ämari Air Base.

The soldiers were also greeted by Her Majesty's Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia, Mrs Theresa Bubbear, and Colonel Veiko-Vello Palm, Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade.

Eighty servicemen from the United Kingdom arrived beforehand in Estonia to prepare, in cooperation with the Estonians, for the arrival of the personnel and equipment of the NATO combat group.

The first 50 French servicemen who are part of the combat group will be arriving in Estonia on 20 March. The French will be contributing to the combat group for the next eight months, after which they will hand over responsibility to the Danes. The NATO combat group’s remaining personnel and their equipment will arrive here in the next few weeks.

Last June, at the Warsaw Summit, the leaders of NATO’s 28 member countries decided, as a result of the changed security situation, to deploy NATO battalion combat groups to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The United Kingdom is the lead country for the NATO combat group to be stationed in Estonia, with France and Denmark being contributing countries.

The combat group is comprised of nearly 1200 allied soldiers. The United Kingdom has announced that its contribution to the combat group will be an armoured unit with 800 servicemen, which will be armed with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, mobile artillery and armoured vehicles. France has announced that it will be contributing a unit of 300 servicemen to the combat group, which will be equipped with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and armoured vehicles.

We are connected to the Brits, the Danes and the French by long-term defence related ties and a brotherhood in arms arising from joint participation in international military operations.

DN meets General Riho Terras at the Estonian Embassy in Stockholm. In Sweden, he has been speaking with Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist (Social Democrats). Along with Commander Micael Bydén, last Friday, General Terras also visited Gotland, which Sweden began to militarily re-equip last year.

“Gotland is a strategically important area for the entire Baltic Sea region. We got the opportunity to drive tanks, see Gripen aircraft from an incident preparedness perspective and talk with local authorities about how they view the military's return and the total defence capability. I liked driving a tank on Gotland, which reminds me very much of our own Saaremaa,” says Terras.

Saaremaa – known in Swedish as Ösel – is Estonia's largest island. Defence League units from there will be taking part in the Swedish major exercise Aurora 17 on the island of Gotland in September. There are other spots where they see eye-to-eye. Both countries are observing increased threats from the Russia of Vladimir Putin.

“The western media often claim that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are afraid of Russia. No, we’re not afraid, but we need to be prepared. Today we are much better prepared to defend our country than ever before in history. It’s not possible to take over our country in just a couple of hours. Full Stop!” says General Terras, firmly.

He has been the defence chief for five years and recently received an extension for a further two years.

Estonia is one of the five NATO countries that have reached the goal of investing two per cent of GDP in defence. This year, the figure is 2.17 per cent (Sweden which is not part of NATO is at 1 per cent, the lowest of the Baltic countries).

When General Terras is asked whether he believes that Russia plans to attack Estonia, he replies:

“I don’t know. But I believe in NATO. And our main task is to ensure that Putin believes in NATO.”

Estonia joined the alliance in 2004. At that time, there was détente and during the initial years, NATO had no defence plans for the Baltic States. But Russia’s annexation of the Crimea and warfare in Ukraine brought about a decision at NATO’s summit in Warsaw last summer to fortify defences in the east.

And so, for this reason April 7, a battalion of 1,200 troops from Great Britain and France will be on stand-by in Estonia. This spring, NATO reinforcements in the three Baltic countries will total 3,600 allied troops and 1,000 armoured vehicles.

“It is not that the British are coming to defend Estonia. Rather, it’s the 28 allied countries that have decided to defend NATO’s eastern front – which happens to be Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. It has value as a deterrent. In Estonia's case, we have taken on board the two nuclear powers: Great Britain and France.”

In Sweden the debate is whether NATO is hostile toward and trying to encircle Russia?

“NATO has never been an aggressive organisation. But I have seen Estonia practicing attacking Moscow in a Russian video. They showed pictures of Estonians in our forests and compared them with the forests near Moscow, “they’re training in the same type of terrain.” Yes, sorry, but Estonia has the same type of terrain. But, that’s propaganda,” says General Terras.

“If we’re going to compare military exercises, the Russian Zapad (West) manoeuvres in 2013 entailed more than 100,000 soldiers while NATO’s Steadfast Jazz exercise had only 7,000,” says Terras and turns the perspective around:

“If someone is saying we’re being provocative, I believe, on the contrary, that we should provoke Russia by not doing anything. Leaving a vacuum – as in the Crimea in Ukraine – is provocative enough for them to take the first step. So let’s not provoke Russia. If there’s a vacuum, we’d prefer to fill it with our own security and we’re on track in doing that.”

99 years ago, Estonia created itself a new future. Proclamation of the republic was a clear demonstration that our own statehood is the best way to preserve our people, our language and culture.

Europe was caught in the whirlwind of the First World War, which erased empires from the map and created an opportunity for the birth of nation states.

A small nation only has a slight chance to establish its own state. An unlikely chance. Such moments need to occur in favourable times and environments. On top of that, people themselves have take charge on the right day and the right hour.

Our people were ready for that day. Estonia had its educated intellectuals and nationally-minded leaders. Estonia had the individuals who hoped, believed, and willed. Who went into battle and won Estonia’s independent statehood.

Indeed, the wider significance of the War of Independence in our history is the recognition that even a small nation has its place under the sun and the right to make its own decisions as a state. The War of Independence gave us courage and confidence to claim that this here is the Estonian state.

Today, on the 99th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, at the foot of the War of Independence Victory Column, it is appropriate to remember those for whom Estonia remained forever young. Who gave their lives without knowing, what will happen, but hoping that our people and our state will persist.

The days of the War of Independence proved to us that we can only be strong as long as we have friends and allies beside us. We remember from history, how important the military support from the British navy was to turn the tide of the battle in our favour. In addition to the Brits, volunteers from many other countries had come to fight for Estonia’s independence.

Similarly, we are strong today, because Estonia is a member of the world’s mightiest military alliance. No country has managed to call into question the effectiveness of NATO’s deterrence. This power was created to protect our members from any kind of military threat. This power is present in Estonia. Estonia is a part of this power.

Deployment of allied forces on the territory of NATO members is normal and customary practice. Like in Estonia, the US troops are present in military bases of more than half of NATO member states. These troops are involved in training and defence cooperation. The goal is to improve the efficiency of communication between allies and to ensure better protection of NATO.

In the spring of this year, the town of Tapa will welcome more than a thousand new inhabitants whose daily work and service is associated with NATO’s increased presence in the eastern part of the alliance. The United Kingdom is the lead nation of this battle group, with French and Danish servicemen also serving side by side with our British friends.

For Estonian Defence Forces, it is almost like a reunion with our brothers in arms. We served with the Brits in the difficult conditions of Afghanistan. Together with the French, we were the first to respond to the outburst of religious violence in the Central African Republic. The Danes served with us, shoulder to shoulder, in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Our wish is to make our allies feel welcome in Estonia. For this, the Estonian state has made the necessary preparations. We have built new barracks and extended our training grounds. But the most important is for Estonian people to accept our allies. This is the best way to move together closer to the ultimate objective of Estonia’s presence in NATO and NATO’s presence in Estonia.  This objective is ensuring better protection for us.

Dear compatriots!

Collective defence and independent defence capability are two equally important pillars of Estonia’s national defence. Estonian state has been consistent in its choices, with the development of the Defence Forces remaining in the public focus for many years. We cannot afford to look idly to the horizon, hands at our sides, waiting for help from the West. Protection is afforded to those who want and can protect themselves.

The development of our national defence in the coming years will require involvement of a larger number of conscripts in bolstering our reserve forces. We have tested the preparedness and skills of our reservists in large exercises and flash meetings. We have seen a real and considerable desire and willingness of Estonian people to defend our country.

In order for Estonian Defence Forces to train more conscripts, we need to be prepared for a closer dialogue with entire Estonian society. Estonian Defence Forces would like to see that our young people are healthy and active. That they perceive the conscript service as an opportunity to gain knowledge and skills. Our reserve forces are based on such knowledge and skills. They help to keep our independent defence capability continually up to date.

However, if we want to be able to protect Estonia in the future, we need to increase our numbers. Today, survival and growth of Estonian people is a crucial challenge. For the members of the Defence Forces, this issue has a very practical dimension – with whom and who are we protecting?

I am very glad that we have many families where participation in conscript service, reserve meetings or exercises of the Defence League is a natural choice. There are large families that have raised quite a few defenders of the country.

Today, standing here on the Freedom Square, I would like to thank and mention the family of Kirschenbergs from Southern Estonia as a positive example. Four of the five sons in this family began their service in the Kuperjanov Battalion. The fifth son, the youngest, has said that he would like to start his conscript service in the Kuperjanov Battalion in the next year. This is a clear sign that serving Estonia is a matter of honour in this family.

Dear people of Estonia!

A few hours ago, a video bridge connected us to our servicemen who serve their country far from home. Our troops have taken part in missions in different corners of the world for more than 20 years. They have made Estonia greater. They have given us the opportunity to speak and decide as an equal among our friends and allies. Our soldiers have built a bridge of trust, which has brought allies to Estonia.

Our willingness to be present in places, where vulnerable groups are in need of protection or where peace needs to be kept with arms, is a confirmation that Estonia sees itself as a part of a community. A community firmly based on European principles and values.

In an unpredictable and changeable world, we need to remember that the independence and freedom of our people has never been and will never be a given. The Estonian state was established to protect our people and our freedom.

Long live the Republic of Estonia!

Riho Terras: Declaration of Independence was to all peoples of Estonia and we should return to that point

• Terras can say with relief that Estonia’s defence capacity has never been stronger than it is now.
• The evil committed by communism and occupation has remained in the collective memory of Estonians and is impossible to underestimate.
• “If I am interviewed on a weekly basis, it can create tension and a sense that perhaps something is wrong.”

As the most influential man of Estonia´s defence and security, the Commander of Estonian Defence Forces Riho Terras admits that we should let go of the evil created by occupation and do our best to make everyone who lives in Estonia feel that they are the people of Estonia.

When asked how he sees his own role in serving the state, the high-ranking lieutenant general is not prone to praising himself or to groundless bragging. “I have served the state since 1991 and have tried to do my best in every position I have held,” is the short and honest answer of the commander.

At the same time, Terras admits, people have lately started to disparage the state excessively – as if the state and its officials were the cause of all evil. “State officials are continuously being unfairly scolded. I believe that most state officials work daily to make the state function better. Be it good or bad but this is our state and we should take better care of it,” Terras admits.

In a time when we talk about changed security environment and Estonia contributes more money than ever to its national defence, Terras can say with relief that Estonia’s defence capacity has never been stronger than it is now. “Never before have we had so many strong allies as we have now. Estonia’s history has proved that it is hard to protect this country without allies but with allies it has been possible.”

The present time has generated a lot of predictions of a possible war. A whole regiment’s worth of foreign journalists have flocked to the Friendship Bridge in Narva to ask locals if this could be the launching pad of World War III.

Before going and demanding an explanation from those international journalists, we should have that dialogue among ourselves, Terras believes. “I think we should do all we can to ensure that the people who live in Estonia, including Russian-speakers, would be our people and that they would also identify as the people of Estonia. Not necessarily as Estonians but certainly as the people of Estonia. So that they would work for this country and love it while maintaining their ethnicity, beliefs and religious specificities,” he says. But this requires more dialogue and clarification, he adds.

You can’t make friends by force

For their part, the Estonian Defence Forces have made a few initiatives. One example was taking the parade to Narva. “Now we made a local boy from Narva the instructor of Alutaguse Defence League based in Narva. His aim is to show the locals that the Defence League is a part of society, a part of the town of Narva and its people,” Terras says. “Dialogue is important, you can’t make friends by force.”

But how to achieve this when Estonia’s narrative is largely based on ethnicity? Terras does not see it quite that way. “The roots of Estonian statehood lie in the first days of our independence, in our War of Independence, where this kind of antagonism didn’t exist. I remember transcribing Estonia’s Declaration of Independence by hand as a child and it said, “Declaration to all peoples of Estonia“. We should return to that starting point and not define ourselves only by language and culture, which are dear to us, but also by the fact that many different ethnicities have always co-existed in Estonia,“ Terras says.

National embitterment is inevitably fuelled by the burden of our history. The evil committed by communism and occupation has remained in the collective memory of Estonians and is impossible to underestimate. Terras finds that we should renounce this evil. “Those wounds are starting to heal and tearing them open again is not a wise thing to do. It is important to assure to ourselves that everything is better without conflict,” says Kohtla-Järve-born Terras. Born and raised in Ida-Virumaa, he knows local circumstances well.

There is one difficult question that many Estonians may come across in the Defence Forces: How to explain to Russian-speaking young men who is the enemy? To explain this Terras recalls the film “December Heat” [a film by Artur Talvik] where the same discussion was held between a Russian-speaking Estonian soldier and an Estonian-speaking officer. “Enemy is the one who tries to undermine our democratic establishment. This trait is not based on ethnicity but on actual attempts to undermine the independent decisions of our state,” he admits.

In the last couple of years when the presence of allies in Estonia has increased and more attention has been paid to drills and protection of society, elderly people who still remember the war have started to worry.

The Commander of the Defence Forces marks that his concern is for the opposite: there are increasingly fewer people who still remember the war, especially among decision-makers. “One of the grounds from which extremist movements are surfacing in Europe is the fact that people have forgotten the horrors of the Second World War,” he admits. “They play with nationalist ideas, set against one another and this can cause conflicts.”

Terras understands that the Defence Forces need to explain to the public what and how much they are doing. “We are not preparing for war but for keeping the peace. We must realise that Russia is watching for every opportunity and, if they feel that we and our allies are not prepared to defend this country, then they will use this opportunity.”

What´s positive?

“Estonia is seen in the world as an innovative small country. Our image in the world is better than we might think,” Terras says. “I happened to attend a lecture by a foreign ambassador who didn’t know that I was in the audience. He praised Estonia in superlatives and compared us to his huge homeland. We don’t acknowledge how good we are in certain things. Take the IT field or our tax collecting system, for example.”

“We could take advantage of that and make it profitable for Estonian people – this is the step that we are still missing. Of course I am delighted that our country is held in very high regard both by the EU and by NATO. Keeping it that way is hard and we must make an effort for this sake.”

The three-day training event tested the NATO’s ability to defend its networks from the various challenges that exist when operating in the contested cyber domain.

“This is the only NATO cyber defence exercise which specifically engages national agencies, military and civilian authorities in response to cyber incidents,” Exercise Director Commander, U.S. Navy Rob Hoar said. “This year the NATO Cyber Range was used to simulate national SCADA systems that have been compromised. The nations must work together to identify the threat and mitigate its impact before it impacts their national systems. We also focused on non-traditional mobile devices that may be prone to compromise, like smart watches and televisions.”

The exercise involved over 700 technical, legal, government and cyber experts operating from dozens of locations from across the Alliance and partner nations. The aim of the exercise is to test the rapid sharing of information about cyber incidents. The drill also tests the ability of the participating nations to coordinate a defence against a series of targeted cyber incidents involving a NATO mission network. “There is no one member of NATO that is as strong on its own as we are all together. The exercise allows nations to practice their procedures and observe best practices from other NATO members and select Partner Nations in order to improve their own capabilities,” Commander Hoar added.

This is the fourth time Estonia hosts the exercise. The aim is to drill procedures and rapid coordination between national experts in their ability to handle a series of scenarios that increase in complexity during the exercise. Using a controlled virtual environment all participants are presented with storylines which involve specific technical challenges such as smart watches and TVs or the hacking of specific networks.

Representatives from seven Partner Nations and European Union either participated or observed, including Austria, Georgia Ireland, Japan, Finland, Sweden, and Switzerland. This year Algeria took part for the first time. Cyber defence staff from the European Union and representatives from academia and industry were also invited.

At this year´s Warsaw NATO Summit, Allies recognized cyberspace as a domain of operations in which Alliance must defend itself as effectively as it does in the air, on land, and at sea. In the previous summit Allies also agreed that cyber-attacks can reach a threshold that threatens national and Euro-Atlantic prosperity, security, and stability. Their impact could be as harmful to modern societies as a conventional attack.

“Cyber Coalition 2016” was the ninth such annual exercise.

Currently around 200 German troops from Gebirgsjägerbatallion 231 of Gebirgsjägerbrigade 23 of Bundeswehr serve in Estonia. German officers also serve at NATO Force Integration Unit and NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn.

This year German forces participated in exercises Kevadtorm and Saber Strike in Estonia and took part in a motorized march Dragoon Ride through Europe. Next week, Luftwaffe´s Eurofighter Typhoon fighters are scheduled to take over NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission in Ämari for the third time.

In total, German fighter jets have participated in mission on eight occasions. Germany has contributed considerably in the development of Estonian Navy. Several Estonian officers and non-commissioned officers have been trained there. Estonian and German troops have served together in the Horn of Africa and currently participate in an UN-led mission in Mali.

Today Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas and is scheduled to meet President Toomas Hendrik Ilves tomorrow. Merkel will also deliver a speech on the development of digital society and the future of Europe in Tallinn.

“We mainly focus on training infantry tactics and arms training in Iraq,” the commander of the training team, Captain Rainer Samarokov said. According to Samarokov, the Estonians are teaching the soldiers of the Iraqi security forces how to operate on a squad, platoon and company level. “We have defined the training objectives together with our allies from the United States and Denmark, with whom our co-operation will be the closest in the coalition.”

The Estonian training team will be located in Anbar Province of Iraq and operate as part of the Danish training contingent.

Operation Inherent Resolve aims to defeat Daesh and increase regional stability. The Riigikogu decided Estonia’s participation in the operation on 15 June 2016, giving a mandate to send up to 10 servicemen to Iraq. Currently Estonian training team of six and one staff officer serve in Iraq as part of operation Inherent Resolve.

“With those wreaths we pay our respects to all soldiers fallen in Sinimäe and for those who lost the most precious that a human can have – their life,” Chaplain Captain Ott Aro said. “We also remember those who lost their home, family and future and were forced to travel the world,” he added.

The battle of Sinimäe took place between the Soviet Red Army and German Wehrmacht from July 25 to August 12 1944. It is considered to be the fiercest military confrontation ever on Estonian soil. It is estimated that over 2 500 Estonian citizens, including civilians living in the area, lost their lives in the battle. The exact numbers of the fallen are not known.

„The following two months will mean more responsibility for our platoon since, despite the decreasing number of patrols, we now need to guard the camp, man the command post and provide a quick response squad using only our own unit to man the duties,“ platoon commander Second Lieutenant Valdo Hälvin said.

Almost 20 years ago UN peacekeeping missions to Croatia (1995) and Lebanon (1996) were the first operations abroad for Estonian Defence Forces after the country restored its independence.

Estonian platoon is part of Finnish-Irish Battalion A-Company serving in Sector West of UNIFIL Area of Responsibility. With two decades Estonia has contributed to several UN missions and currently has forces in Mali, as well as military observers contributing to United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO) Observers Group in Lebanon.

As of end of May this year Estpla-21 has been conducting patrols; patrolled with Lebanese Armed Forces as well as carried out other peacekeeping duties from their main UN Position 2-45 in At Tiri, Southern Lebanon.

Together with staff officers Estonia has approx. 40 troops in Lebanon. From total over 500 force Finland contributes to Finnish-led battalion with around 300 troops and Ireland around 200 troops. Rotating forces in Blue Line UN Positions 6-50 and 6-52 is part of battalion´s routine.