Government plans to approve defence development plan after budget strategy

The Estonian government hopes to approve the country’s defence development plan for the next 10 years this autumn, after adopting the state budget strategy, public broadcaster ERR reported.

The previous defence minister, Hanno Pevkur, presented a draft of the military section of the development plan through 2035 to the Riigikogu’s National Defence Committee on January 26. He said at the time that he hoped to submit the plan to the government by April, but it has not yet been approved.

Maris Lindmäe, a communications adviser at the State Chancellery, told ERR that work on the plan was nearing completion. She stressed that Pevkur had presented only a draft of the military section, not the full development plan.

Drafts covering the non-military areas of national defence reached a stage by early summer at which ministries could begin refining them jointly and combining them into a complete plan, Lindmäe said.

She described the document as a broad national defence plan whose military and non-military activities, priorities and funding must be aligned with one another and with the country’s other long-term budget decisions.

“The development plan will take its final form after the government has approved the state budget strategy and Estonia’s initial positions for negotiations on the European Union’s next long-term budget,” Lindmäe said. She added that the new defence minister also needed time to form a position on the plan.

The prime minister will present the completed plan to the Riigikogu’s National Defence Committee before it is submitted to the government for approval. The aim is to secure approval during the autumn, Lindmäe said.