Estonia renews defense cooperation agreement with US

Representatives of Estonia and the United States of America signed a defense cooperation agreement for the coming years in Washington, DC, Report informs via ERR.

Tuuli Duneton, undersecretary of defense policy for the Estonian Ministry of Defense, and Celeste Wallander, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs at the US Department of Defense, have signed the Estonia-US security cooperation plan for 2024-2028, the Defense Ministry of Estonia said Sunday.

"As an affirmation of strong allied relations between Estonia and the US, we have renewed our defense cooperation agreement, with US military presence in Estonia, contribution to developing the division, cyber defense cooperation and joint Baltic defense tenders at its heart," Duneton said.

The agreement also covers cooperation in hosting allied units, developing the necessary infrastructure and several other fields of common interests.

"We have also reaffirmed support for Ukraine until its sovereignty and territorial integrity are restored. With this goal in mind, we will continue working with the U.S. Department of Defense in training, equipping, advising and helping the Ukrainian armed forces," the undersecretary added.

Cooperation between Estonia and the US helps strengthen Estonia's independent defensive capacity, Baltic Sea security and NATO allied relations, the ministry emphasized.

The first defense cooperation agreement between the two countries was signed in 2019. The US has signed a similar mutual cooperation plan with Latvia and Lithuania.