"The Netherlands is the first country to take over Air Policing again at the renovated Ämari Air Base. It is noteworthy that this will be done with state-of-the-art stealth fighters," said Pevkur after the meeting.

During the meeting the ministers also discussed aid for Ukraine. "Like Estonia, the Netherlands has provided substantial military assistance to Ukraine, clearly demonstrating that we share similar values and a common understanding of the need to strengthen defense. I am also pleased that the Netherlands is contributing to the IT Coalition led by us and Luxembourg, through which we are supporting Ukraine in developing its ICT capabilities," the Estonian defense minister added.

Estonia and the Netherlands are the only two countries that are members of all the major defense cooperation formats in the region. Estonia has acquired a significant amount of technical equipment from the Netherlands, including armored cars, (all-terrain vehicles) ATVs and medical vehicles. Regionally, the Netherlands also contributes to security within the framework of the NATO battlegroup in Lithuania. The Netherlands has contributed to Baltic air security on four occasions so far.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!