Col. Tali says progress with the Via Baltica highway and the Rail Baltica high-speed link are the most important issues that need to be resolved in Pärnu County, the constituency in which he will run.

He said: "We are dealing with Estonia's most strategic connecting routes, which will also provide the people of Pärnu County with a safe, fast connection to Tallinn and Riga, and Eesti 200 is the party which strongly stands for these connections."

Eesti 200 chair Lauri Hussar said Tali represented a strong addition to the party's representative line-up of security experts, which already includes experts Kalev Stoicescu, Merle Maigre and Igor Taro, and former defense minister Margus Tsahkna

Hussar said: "Peeter Tali's experience, ideas and commitment make him a very strong candidate."

Tali expressed disappointment that, despite having seven MPs elected from the constituency, little progress had been made in the infrastructure projects mentioned, adding that he has also come up with numerous ideas for the party's defense aspects of its manifesto, most notably the multi-layered "Kalevipoeg" air defense umbrella, covering the whole of the country which would, once in place, provide defense for the entire populace and all vital infrastructure from potential enemy missile, drone and air attacks, he said.

Tali is a journalist who has worked for Postimees and is also a former Eesti Päevaleht deputy editor-in-chief, while for the past two decades he has been responsible for Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and Ministry of Defense communications, as well as having been deputy director at the NATO Strategic Communication Competence Center in Riga for a four-year stint.