Estonia’s First Steps in the Direction of NATO and National Defence

Abstract

 The meeting of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) which was held in December 1991 and attended by the foreign ministers of NATO member states, former members of the Warsaw Treaty Organisation and the Baltic States was a prelude to enlargement. Although the direct threat of an attack in the territories of NATO countries had ceased to exist, armed conflict in the border areas of NATO – especially in the former Yugoslavia – emerged as new threats. The NATO cooperation programme Partnership for Peace (PfP) was launched on the initiative of the US in 1994 and was tasked with preparing the military structures of potential new member states.

Even before the adoption of the new Constitution, Chairman of the Supreme Council of Estonia Ülo Nugis declared in October 1991 that Estonia’s goal was to join NATO as soon as possible. Secretary General of NATO Manfred Wörner visited Estonia in March 1992. However, the main task of the Estonian defence policy until 1994 was the withdrawal of Russian forces from the territory of Estonia.

The fundamentals of the Estonian defence policy passed in the Riigikogu in May 1996 stated that the goal of the policy was to join NATO and WEU.

In 1994, Estonian soldiers took part in NATO/PfP training (Cooperative Spirit 94) for the first time. In 1995 Estonia joined the NATO Planning and Review Programme. Estonia has been taking part in NATO peacekeeping missions, initially as part of the Danish battalion, since 1995.

The idea of Estonia becoming a member of NATO seemed utopic at the time the country’s independence was restored, but it had already become a serious possibility by the mid-’90s. The events in Europe and around the world, the openness of NATO and Estonia’s own determination and efforts helped to achieve this.