Baltic Conference on Defense to focus on future of NATO, threats on northeastern flank

TALLINN - The annual Baltic Conference on Defense to be held in Tallinn on Nov. 10 will this year focus on the future of NATO and threats and challenges on the northeastern flank.

Participants in the conference include Estonian Minister of Defense Kalle Laanet, his Greek counterpart Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, British Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey, NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Defense Policy and Planning Patrick Turner and commander of NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast, Lt. Gen. Slawomir Wojciechowski.

The conference will be opened by Estonian President Alar Karis, and representatives of NATO, the allies and cooperation partners and defense and security policy experts will be greeted by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas at a welcoming dinner to be held on the eve of the event.

"The world has changed to a great degree over the past decade; unfortunately, the change hasn't been towards stability -- instead, new threats and challenges have emerged. Technological development, civilian crises in addition to military conflicts, the rise of China, aggravating struggle for power -- all of this also affects NATO. Russia remains a threat that must not be underestimated and NATO must focus on credible deterrence and military defense," said director of the conference, Martin Hurt from the International Center for Defense Studies.

The 2021 Baltic Conference on Defense "On the Doorstep of a New NATO Strategic Concept: What Threats and Challenges Will Shape Defense in North-East Europe in 2030?" will be held in a limited volume due to the COVID-19 pandemic and participation is by invitation only for people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have recovered from the virus in the past 180 days.

The conference is organized by the International Center for Defense Studies and the Estonian Ministry of Defense in cooperation with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The organization of the event is supported by MBDA, EuroSpike, Nammo, BAE Systems and Milworks.