Estonia to deploy 110 troops to international missions in 2019

The Estonian government on Thursday approved 11 draft resolutions of the Riigikogu extending international missions of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) through the end of 2019. The draft resolutions concern the deployment of a total of 110 defence personnel on missions and placing another 126 on standby.
The Estonian government on Thursday approved 11 draft resolutions of the Riigikogu extending international missions of the Estonian Defence Forces (EDF) through the end of 2019. The draft resolutions concern the deployment of a total of 110 defence personnel on missions and placing another 126 on standby.
Speaking at Thursday's government press conference, Minister of Defence Jüri Luik (Pro Patria) said that the EDF will deploy altogether 110 members of the EDF on international missions next year and another 126 personnel will be assigned to the standby units of NATO and the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF). In addition, the government is requesting the Riigikogu's mandate for the deployment of up to 50 personnel to a possible mission led by NATO, the EU or the UN.
Luik explained that in 2019, Estonia will no longer send a new peacekeeping unit to Lebanon and will discontinue taking part in the mission in Kosovo. The participation of Estonian troops in the mission in Iraq will also be reformed, as the Estonian contingent, while remaining the same in size, will transfer from a US-led contingent to a NATO-led mission.
The government on Thursday endorsed draft resolutions of the Riigikogu extending the deployment of up to six Estonian troops to the peacekeeping mission in the Middle East, up to 52 personnel to the NATO Response Force (NRF) and up to 24 personnel to the UK-led JEF.
In addition, Estonia is planning to deploy up to 50 personnel to the French-led Operation Barkhane in Mali, up to three personnel to the United States Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and up to 46 personnel to the NATO-led training and advisory mission in Afghanistan.
The government also endorsed draft resolutions of the Riigikogu on the deployment, if necessary, of up to 50 personnel to a mission conducted under Chapter VI or VII of the Charter of the United Nations under the leadership of NATO or one of its member states, the EU or the UN; up to six personnel to the European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EU NAVFOR Med), otherwise known as Operation Sophia, on the Mediterranean Sea and the Libyan coast; up to ten personnel to the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali); up to another ten personnel to the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA); up to ten personnel to the US-led Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) against the Islamic State group; and up to five personnel to the new non-combat training and defence capability-building mission called NATO Mission Iraq (NMI).
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Editor: Aili Vahtla