Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association celebrates its 20th anniversary

TALLINN - Twenty years ago on the day of the Tartu Peace Treaty on Feb. 2, 2001, the Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association (EATA) was founded and is one of the members of the Atlantic Treaty Association (ATA) that consists of 37 members.  

The aim of the association is to strengthen the bond between the citizen and the state by helping to grow the willingness to protect and through that strengthen the sovereignty. The Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association is working towards supporting NATO as one of the main security guarantees and to value the contribution of people into the state defense. By now, the civic association has been active for 20 years and consists of approximately 300 members from different fields, EATA said in a press release.

"It is good to note that the forces of our allies cheer along to the life of Estonians and the people take them as a natural part of the Estonian defense forces," member of EATA and former minister of defense Juri Luik said, adding that EATA has contributed to this. 

Throughout the years, the Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association has focused more attention on the youth and through that focused on securing the future of Estonia. Members of the association give lessons on state defense, organize summers schools on history and social studies, contribute to cyber security and comprehensive national defense. 

"To me, it is extremely important that the will to protect strengthens in our younger generation. The basis of the national defense capability is the readiness to defend the homeland," chairman of the council of EATA, Marko Mihkelson, said.

The Estonian Atlantic Treaty Association is one of the few civic associations who have focused their information campaign towards the Russian-speaking population. This enabled a high support for Estonia to join NATO, EATA said.

The association would like to thank its members, volunteers and cooperation partners, including the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Research, NATO HQ, the Atlantic Treaty Association, Kaitseliit (Defense League) volunteer corps, the Estonian defense forces, the Konrad Adenauer Fund, the Friedrich Ebert Fund and the Carolin Illenzeer Fund as well as the British, German, U.S. and Canadian embassies in Estonia.