| | Tallinn, Stenbock House, 14th July 2010 – Admiral James Stavridis, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), visited Stenbock House today. At his meeting with Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, he expressed his sincere thanks to Estonia for the contribution it has made to guaranteeing international security.
“My message is one of thank you – Estonia has stepped up as a contributor in this Alliance in very real vays, thank you,” Admiral Stavridis said.
At the meeting, the security situation in NATO’s most important military mission in Afghanistan was discussed. According to James Stavridis, we will succeed in Afghanistan because we are a strong Alliance and a total of 47 countries are currently contributing to security in the region.
Prime Minister Ansip affirmed Estonia’s continued commitment to participate in the international security forces in Afghanistan. He said that the members of the Estonian Defence Forces would remain in the mission region as long as is necessary and until the Afghan government so desires.
According to Admiral Stavridis, the bravery and courage of the Estonian forces is well known. “The Estonian Defence Forces have taken deep losses in Southern Afghanistan and I wish to express my condolences to all of the families of all of those troops.”
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe stressed the need to achieve the two-percent defence expenditure target in the alliance’s member states and acknowledged Estonia’s decision to maintain the level of national defence spending during the economic crisis. Andrus Ansip relayed to the Admiral the fundamental promise of the Estonian government to increase the defence spending target to 1.9 percent of GDP next year.
In addition to his meeting with the Prime Minister, Admiral Stavridis met today with members of the Riigikogu, officials of the Ministry of Defence, and officers of the Defence Forces. On Thursday, Admiral James Stavridis will visit the NATO Cyber Defence Centre located at the Headquarters and Communications Battalion in Tallinn, within the course of his two-day visit to Estonia.
Admiral Stavridis assumed duties as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe at the beginning of last summer, having previously commanded the U.S. Southern Command for three years. In addition to fulfilling the assignments of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the SACEUR also serves as Commander of the United States European Command.
Photos of Admiral Stavridis’s visit to Stenbock House are available at http://www.valitsus.ee/?id=10419
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