Estonian defmin stresses role of unity in ensuring security during visit to Athens

  • 2022-08-05
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur and Greek Minister for National Defense Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos at a meeting in Athens on Thursday discussed the security situation and stressed the importance of unity in ensuring security.

"Estonia's view of security covers 360 degrees, which means that Estonia considers the security of the Mediterranean region very important, and we are committed to ensuring peace and security also in the southern part of the alliance. In practice, this is expressed in Estonia's contribution to foreign operations," Pevkur said.

"Geographically, Greece and Estonia are the front-line countries of NATO and the European Union in the east and south. This brings us closer and helps us better understand each other's security problems," the minister added.

An important topic on the agenda was Russia's aggression against Ukraine and the possibilities of providing continued military aid to Ukraine.

"The Russian Federation's aggression in Ukraine affects us all. We must not tire of supporting and helping Ukraine. The Kremlin's goal is to destroy the current rules-based world order. The war in Ukraine shows that the Kremlin does not hesitate to use military force to achieve this goal," Pevkur said.

Estonia and Greece have a good cooperation perspective, especially in the field of cyber defense, military education and defense industry. Greece has participated in the studies of the Baltic Defense College with both teaching staff and students. Also, Greece is one of the contributing countries of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence (CCDCOE).