Pevkur the first minister of defence to visit newest NATO member Sweden

Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur visited Sweden this week to meet with the Minister of Defence of Sweden Pål Jonson and discuss defence cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region with NATO's newest member. The Minister also visited the Karlskrona Naval Base and the SAAB shipyard, attended defence industry business seminars and opened the Estonian Honorary Consul in Karlskrona.

"It was a privilege to be the first minister of defence to visit Sweden as a NATO member and to personally convey Estonia's congratulations," said Minister of Defence Pevkur. "Sweden's accession to NATO makes the Baltic Sea and the Nordic-Baltic region better protected and it means that our rear is more secure. Estonia and Sweden have historically enjoyed strong bilateral defence cooperation, and our alliance within NATO will certainly open up new avenues for cooperation. Given the substantial air and naval capabilities of the Swedish Armed Forces, we can be more confident that the sea and air routes in the Baltic Sea are open and secure."

The business seminars for Estonian and Swedish defence industry representatives, organised by Enterprise Estonia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Karlskrona and Stockholm, set out to foster cooperation between defence companies in the two countries. "Estonia's innovative defence industry with its focus on new technologies can have a lot to offer to its Swedish counterparts. I believe that these business seminars will soon lead to new co-operative defence industry projects and investments between Estonia and Sweden," said Pevkur.

The Estonian Minister of Defence also attended the official opening ceremony of the Estonian Honorary Consulate in Kalrskrona together with Ambassador Toomas Lukk and met with the new Honorary Consul of Estonia Paula Eninge.

The Minister visited the Swedish Navy's Visby-class corvette Karlstad and the CB90-class fast assault craft at the Karlskrona naval base, and observed the construction and modernisation of Swedish submarines at the SAAB shipyard.

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Photos: Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur and Sweden's Minister of Defence Pål Jonson (13.… | Flickr