Estonian army ready for NATO accession

  • 2001-06-07
  • TBT staff
TALLINN - The Estonian defense forces received critical acclaim from NATO Allied Forces Lieutenant General Jack Deverell, who inspected the army's preparedness to join the alliance on May 31.

According to the defense forces' press service, Deverell was satisfied with Estonian commanders' attitudes toward the further development of the army.

Estonian defense forces commander Rear Admiral Tarmo Kouts said the general enthused over the Estonian Defense Ministry and agreed that the army was making concerted efforts in the name of NATO accession.

Deverell, the commander-in-chief of the regional headquarters of the allied forces' North European division, visited the communications battalion, a naval base and the base of a Baltic joint squadron on May 31.

After a short meeting with Juri Luik, Estonia's defense minister, Deverell headed off to Latvia and Lithuania.