Estonian parlt adopts package of foreign mission bills for 2015

Photo: Peeter Kümmel / Sakala

Estonian parliament on Thursday adopted the package of bills with which a mandate was given to the Estonian Defense Forces to take part in a follow-up mission in Afghanistan and taking part in ongoing foreign missions would be extended by a year.

According to bills adopted by the parliament up to 25 Estonian personnel are to participate in the NATO Resolute Support follow-up mission in Afghanistan. The follow-up mission will be a training and advisory mission, not one conducting combat operations. Up to 50 Estonian defense personnel are to be assigned to the EU's Nordic Battle Group. EU battle groups are military units with a response time of 15 days that the union can use in international crisis management. The Estonian personnel will be on standby in Estonia.

One of the biggest missions for the Estonian Defense Forces next year will be participation in the NATO Response Force (NRF), the Estonian input to which will consist of one minehunter, a ship crew of up to 40 regular personnel, and up to five staff officers. Estonia's contribution to NRF this year was of the same size.

Besides the parliament approved giving an extension of the mandate of 10 members of the defense forces in the EU training mission Mali and increasing the Estonian participation in the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA there. The Estonian input to MINUSMA would be boosted to 10 personnel from two staff officers now.

The mandate of three Estonian personnel deployed with the NATO KFOR operation in Kosovo and of six personnel taking part in the UN military monitoring mission in the Middle East was extended. And, finally, a mandate to post up to five members of the defense forces to the headquarters of a new military operation of NATO or the EU should such a headquarters be set up is to be discussed.