Estonian defense minister: NATO's regional plans executable if needed

On Thursday in Brussels, NATO defense ministers met to discuss the alliance's regional plans and their potential implementation. During the NATO-Ukraine Council, the focus was on practical steps to bring Ukraine closer to attaining NATO membership.
"We are on track with the regional plans and, if needed, they are already executable now," said Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur (Reform).
"At the same time, we need to significantly increase defense investments among NATO member states, because the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has exposed decades of underinvestment in defense. This cannot continue. We have to have all the necessary units, equipped and armed, with ammunition, logistics and everything that is needed, not only to defend ourselves but also to send Russia a clear message – an attack on NATO is not even worth considering," Pevkur added.
"Estonia has raised defense spending to over 3 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP). Presumably nearly 20 NATO member states will reach at least 2 percent, however, it is also important for all the allies to go beyond that. In the current security environment, 2 percent is the floor for defense spending. We must all do more to raise our own defense capabilities and to boost the defense industry's production capacity. This is only possible if significant, multi-year orders are made," added Pevkur.
At the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, which took place for the second time, the defense ministers discussed practical steps to bring Ukraine closer to attaining NATO membership. They agreed on the establishment of a NATO-Ukraine analysis and education center, which is an important step, both for analyzing lessons learned from Russia's war in Ukraine and for bringing Ukraine closer to NATO membership.
NATO's new regional plans were approved last summer at the Vilnius Summit. The plans are based on the NATO Forward Defense principle – to defend all NATO allies and their territories from the first second and first centimeter. The implementation of these plans significantly strengthens Estonia's security.
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Editor: Michael Cole