Pevkur in Warsaw: Poland is a priority partner for Estonian defense industry

TALLINN - Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur, who met with Polish Minister of National Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz in Warsaw on Friday, emphasized that Poland is a priority partner for the Estonian defense industry.

The meeting covered strengthening defense cooperation, the European security situation, and the development of the defense industry. During the visit, Estonian defense company Frankenburg Technologies and the Polish defense group PGZ signed a co-production agreement.

"Poland is one of our most important allies, who clearly perceives the seriousness of the current security situation and the need to contribute significantly more to defense than before. Together, we are setting an example by increasing defense spending, and we also expect our allies to commit to meeting the five percent target," said Pevkur.

"I am pleased to see that our partnership is also developing strongly in the defense industry. Poland is clearly a priority partner for our companies. The strengths of the Estonian defense industry lie in robotics, cybersecurity, surveillance systems, situational awareness systems, and artificial intelligence applications. This means that Estonia does not compete with Poland's strong defense industry, but offers it significant added value," the minister added.

Estonian companies such as Milrem Robotics and Rantelon have also signed cooperation agreements with PGZ. Cooperation with Poland supports the rapid expansion of the Estonian defense industry sector - the sector grew by approximately 45 percent last year alone.

Estonia also highly values the smooth cooperation with Poland in preparing the proposal for the Eastern Flank Watch project. Concurrently, work is underway on Poland's border development project "Eastern Shield" and the planning and construction of the Baltic defense line by Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, which share a common goal - to make aggression against us unthinkable. These are also projects where our defense industry can offer modern solutions and apply lessons learned from Ukraine.

"Poland has been a firm and consistent supporter of Ukraine, and we will continue this support together and steadfastly. Estonian instructors are also currently in Poland, training Ukrainian fighters," Pevkur added.

Estonia and Poland are currently contributing together to the Legio support mechanism, a Norway-led initiative for the Nordic and Baltic countries and Poland, which involves sending armaments and equipment as well as training Ukrainian fighters.

Additionally, the minister, along with a delegation from the Estonian state-owned company Hexest Materials AS, will visit the Polish Nitro-Chem plant on Friday to learn about the production process for RDX-type military explosives. "We greatly appreciate this opportunity, as in Estonia we are developing our ammunition industry essentially from scratch. The establishment of new explosives production capacities in Europe will help ensure security of supply for companies in Estonia and the wider region," Pevkur said.

Poland has long-term experience in the production of RDX explosives, and the core team of Hexest Materials includes experienced Polish specialists who have previously built similar plants. The plant is expected to begin operations in 2028.