Herem: Estonia must accept that sustaining its defense capabilities may get harder
Estonian Defense Minister Martin Herem told ERR that, because of the threat from Russia, the country must quickly build up certain defense capabilities even if maintaining them later proves harder. He stressed that new proposals for the defense development plan do not necessarily require extra funding.
Estonia must very quickly develop certain defense capabilities because of the threat from Russia, and accept that maintaining them later may prove somewhat more difficult, Defense Minister Martin Herem said in an interview with the public broadcaster ERR. The question matters because Estonia is preparing its national defense development plan, which sets out which capabilities the country will build in the coming years and how.
Response to spending concerns
Meelis Oidsalu wrote in the newspaper Postimees that there is a major risk the military defense development plan will exceed the country's means, and that spending made before the elections will not be accounted for later. Herem said these concerns are partly justified, but that the risk has to be taken.
He explained that the next few years could be quite dangerous: if the war in Ukraine ends, Russia could threaten Estonia. Some capabilities may therefore have to be "preserved" in storage. According to the minister, the issue is not cost control but how, and with what funds, acquired capabilities are sustained. He noted that some allies have strict annual mileage limits on their tanks, so the vehicles often cannot be used in exercises.
New proposals for the plan
On Tuesday, November 3, Herem attended a meeting of the National Defense Council, which operates under the president, and presented proposals for the plan. They are based on new knowledge gained by the Defense Forces since the plan submitted in January, which has not yet been approved: tests and experiments were carried out, for example on how maneuver units should fight. Lessons from Ukraine also showed how air defense requirements have changed, and several points concern intelligence capabilities.
Herem stressed that nothing was done wrongly before, and that the plan should be more than a shopping list: it must show goals, methods and responsible parties. Extra funds are not necessarily needed, as earlier proposals can be replaced with new ones. In air defense, for instance, fewer missiles of one type could be bought and combined with other systems, including aircraft and air-to-air weapons.
