By Steve Roman (October 26, 2011)
Minister of Defense Mart Laar met with his Finnish counterpart Stefan Wallin in Tallinn on October 25 where the two agreed to draw up a four-year framework agreement on defense cooperation.
The document would set out the two countries’ objectives and main areas of defense collaboration for the period, a statement from the Estonian Ministry of Defense said.
“Since 1990, the defense cooperation between Estonia and Finland has been very close and beneficial. The four-year cooperation plan aims to raise these relations to a new level, so that through our joint activities both Estonia and Finland can save taxpayers’ money,” said Laar, citing as an example a joint procurement in 2009 that allowed Estonia to buy two medium-range radar stations for the price of one.
During Wallin’s one-day visit, the two defense ministers also discussed Nordic and Baltic cooperation, EU battle groups, operations in Afghanistan and cyber defense issues.
