The Modernisation of the Estonian Armed Forces – A New Approach to Baltic Security

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked a renewed concern for Baltic security. Given the hard-earned independence process of Baltic countries, Russia’s aggression and hostile rhetoric push Baltic countries to boost their defensive capabilities. Until 2022 (or the Annexation of Crimea in 2014), Baltic states have relied heavily upon ally stationing and hosting NATO troops in joint operations. However, with the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the defence strategy of these countries quickly shifted towards increasing their offensive measures and modernising the current inventory. While Baltic countries have always cooperated in many fields since their independence (Vaiksnoras, 2002), military spending requires national-level importance and adaptation. Between Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, the case of Estonia carries specific attention, as it is the smallest nation (population approx. 1.3 million) and has the highest GDP per capita. The economic advantage also pushes the Estonian Government to test different approaches to the concept of military strategy and be able to deliver better technological advancement to its units.  Estonia’s approach to security presents an interesting case for the Baltic security framework. Unlike traditional firepower or manpower superiority, Estonia relies on a civil-military orientation strategy in which the concept of security expands in different domains (Karabeshkin, 2007). Like the Finnish model, Estonia applies mandatory military service to every male citizen after the age of 18, which enables the mobilisation of the nation as a reserve in case of war, even after military service is finished (Besch & Westgaard, 2024). The Estonian conscription system is also made-up of a part-time volunteer body, which is composed of citizens wishing to stay in the military after their service, and receiving military training for war or crisis management cases. Women can also be a part of the volunteer service under Naiskodukaitse (Women`s voluntary defence organization), taking different roles (Kaitseliit, n.d.) However, the country’s successful branding as an internet-intelligent nation also allows for the local development of technological domains in the defence sector, such as cybersecurity, AI or robotics  (Jermalavičius & Hurt, 2021). The recent success of first-person view (herein FPV) drones, integration of cyber defence command chain and volunteer units with technological know-how are all part of this new “modernisation” process that this paper will discuss.

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EUDIS Hackathon First Edition 2024

The EUDIS Hackathon, a part of the EU Defence Innovation Scheme (EUDIS), is an outreach event that brings together people from various backgrounds to solve challenge. It was simultaneously held in six countries in a hybrid format: Belgium, Poland, Italy, Greece, Lithuania, and Hungary. The theme of this first edition was “Digital in Defence' and it centered on three challenges: improving situational awareness, subsea infrastructure protection, and cybersecurity in defence.

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Internet of Military Things (IoMT): Cybersecurity challenges and non-interoperability

The Internet of Military Things (IoMT) presents widespread opportunities, including enhanced efficiency, real-time decision-making, and improved situational awareness. The IoMT is “driven by military informationization requirement and information technology development. It consists of an information system capturing the physical attributes and state information of military people, equipments and materials by various information sensing means, connecting all kind of operation elements and environment elements as an organic whole by standard communication protocols to process, control and apply intelligently” (Yushi et al., 2018: 632).

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EU-NATO cooperation on cyber security, defence capabilities and capacity building: changes and continuities between the 7th and 8th progress report

On June 16th 2023, NATO and the EU released their 8th progress report on the implementation of the common set of proposals endorsed by the respective Councils on December 6th 2016 and December 5th 2017. This info flash aims at identifying elements of change and continuity in bilateral cooperation dynamics compared to the 7th progress report published on June 20th 2022.On June 16th 2023, NATO and the EU released their 8th progress report on the implementation of the common set of proposals endorsed by the respective Councils on December 6th 2016 and December 5th 2017. This info flash aims at identifying elements of change and continuity in bilateral cooperation dynamics compared to the 7th progress report published on June 20th 2022.

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The EU & Lula: A New Age of Cooperation

This Info Flash explores the implications of the rise to power of Brazil’s new president, Luis Inácio Lula da Silva. Commonly seen as the antithesis of the previous president, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula has already made significant changes to Brazil’s position on the global stage since his inauguration five months ago. It is likely that there will be a growth in the investment of EU-Brazil cooperation, which will in turn affect European politics, economies, and even security. Though Lula’s approach to politics is generally more accepted in Europe, issues may arise due to Brazil’s neutrality towards Russia’s war on Ukraine. The final section of the text touches on cybersecurity, as significant advancements were made in Lula’s previous term as president. The field is relatively developed in Latin America, and investing in it can be beneficial for European security.

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