Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo met yesterday with his American colleague Robert Gates who announced the US decision to join the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn.
According to Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo the US joining the Cyber Defence Centre gives an important impulse to the development of the centre and also to the joining of other countries. “Cyber security is a central security matter of the 21st century. The Cyber Defence Centre founded in Estonia is becoming an acknowledged leader in the field and we are proud of that,” noted Aaviksoo.
Aaviksoo and Gates also discussed the outcome of the Lisbon summit, the new strategic concept of NATO and the operation in Afghanistan. According to Aaviksoo, the security of the US and Europe are closely related and the transatlantic cooperation has ensured peace in Europe for more than 60 years. “Continuing this cooperation by US military presence is definitely in Estonia’s interests,” said Aaviksoo.
During the meeting, the importance of each NATO member allocating 2% of the GDP to defence funding was also stressed.
During the four-day visit to the US, Defence Minister Aaviksoo also met with Howard McKeon, the next Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services, and with the White House Cyber Security Coordinator Howard Schmidt. Aaviksoo visited the NATO Allied Command Transformation located in Norfolk and the US CYBERCOM.
Aaviksoo is accompanied on the visit by the Undersecretary for Defence Policy Sven Sakkov and the Head of the NATO Cyber Defence Centre Colonel Ilmar Tamm. The Defence Minister will return to Estonia today.
Additional information:
Peeter Kuimet
Press Officer
MoD Estonia
Phone +372 717 0116 / +372 56 56 41 88
[email protected]
