Dear friends,

On March 29th Estonia celebrates 20 years of membership in NATO and a week later, on April 4th, we celebrate NATO's 75th anniversary together with our allies.

For 75 years, NATO has successfully guaranteed transatlantic peace, stability and prosperity, while keeping its open doors policy. In the year 2024, NATO is more relevant, united, strong and decisive than ever. Estonia has also made its contribution towards making NATO stronger.

During these 20 years, Estonia's defence capability has made a significant leap forward. Our defence capabilities and military cooperation with our allies ensure that we can feel secure in our ability to defend our country. For seven years, the NATO battlegroup has been present in Estonia, and since the 2022 Madrid Summit also troops from our strongest ally - the US. We are not alone in defending Estonia. Together with our Allies we form a strong Forward Defence, which protects us according to NATO's defence plans. NATO's deterrence and defence works, we are stronger together. We are NATO.

Hanno Pevkur
Minister of Defence