President, chief of defense forces visit Estonian soldiers serving in Lebanon

TALLINN - Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid and commander of the defense forces Gen. Riho Terras were on Friday and Saturday in Lebanon where they also visited the members of the Estonian defense forces serving in the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) in Lebanon as well as the country's leaders.

"For me it is important to meet with Estonian soldiers and talk to them directly. One thing is to read things on paper and a totally different thing is to see with my own eyes the Blue Line separating Lebanon and Israel, and how Estonian soldiers guard peace in the region," Kaljulaid said. "At meetings with Lebanon's president, prime minister and speaker of the parliament I heard from all of them how important Estonia's contribution is to keeping peace in their country," she added.

During the two-day visit the Estonian delegation met with Lebanon's leaders in Beirut as well as the commander of UNIFIL, Maj. Gen. Michael Beary, in Naquora, after which they visited the Irish-Finnish battalion where Estonians are serving. There the visitors got an overview of the unit's operations and the situation in the area. On Saturday afternoon Kaljulaid and Terras observed a patrol by ESTPLA-22, the present rotation of the Estonian unit serving in Lebanon, after which they met with Estonian soldiers and observers.

During the meeting with Estonian soldiers Terras highlighted the importance of their service and their professionalism. "It is nice that during meetings with Lebanon's representatives as well as with commanders of UNIFIL and the Finnish-Irish battalion the keywords were the professionalism and exemplary behavior of our soldiers. The UNIFIL operation is important to us because by keeping peace in Lebanon we are contributing to Estonia being a safer place," Terras said.

Staff officers included, some 40 Estonian military are currently serving in UNIFIL. ESTPLA-22 mainly consists of troops from the Scouts Battalion's staff and logistics companies and is part of UNIFIL's Irish-Finnish battalion. The mission is the Estonian defense forces' biggest foreign mission.

ESTPLA-22 conducts motorized and foot patrols, including on the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel. ESTPLA-22 also has escorted UN convoys to Beirut.

The task of UNIFIL is to avoid the emergence of hostile activities, support the armed forces of Lebanon in South Lebanon and co-ordinate the activities of the governments of Lebanon and Israel on related issues. UNIFIL also serves the function of ensuring the availability of humanitarian aid to the civil population and support the voluntary and safe return home of domestic refugees.