Parliament passes new national defense act
Parliament has passed the Cabinet-authored National Defense Act with 67 votes in favor. The new legislation provides for separate models of peacetime and wartime national defense.
The chairman of the National Defense Committee, Jürgen Ligi (Reform Party), said the main goal was to ensue faster and better readiness to security threats.
The law provides a mechanism for activating wartime and peacetime command systems that are similar to each other, no matter whether the threat is a classic or hybrid one, and specifies the principle of comprehensive defense.
It also strengthens the role of the prime minister, Cabinet and Government Office, and makes substitutions in the chain of command easier.
Besides the wartime and peacetime structures, the law also regulates Estonia's rights and responsibilities in international military operations.