Defence Minister's visit to Estonia and Latvia

On 26 January, Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen paid a visit to the roughly 1000 Danish soldiers deployed to Estonia and Latvia. The Minister was accompanied by Chief of Defence General Flemming Lentfer and several parliamentarians of the Danish Parliament’s Defence Committee, including representatives from the Faroe Islands and Greenland.

The visit started off early morning in Estonia with a visit to the Estonian Ministry of Defence. Here, the Minister and the Chief of Defence met their counterparts and discussed the security situation, both currently and in the future, in the Baltic Sea region as well as Estonia’s and Denmark’s substantial contributions to Ukraine.

Around noon, the Danish delegation visited the Danish enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) contingent at Tapa Army Base. At the parade ground, the Minister addressed not only the 170 Danish soldiers, but also their English and French comrades. The Minister thanked all of them for their valuable and important contribution to the safety and security of Estonia and NATO.

The delegation then moved on to the adjacent hangar, where a static display gave them valuable knowledge about the various capabilities used by the eFP. Among a number of things, the Minister saw the inside of a Danish Leopard 2A7 tank, but also received a photo of his father and Danish soldiers in Estonia, taken in 2018, from the Danish eFP Commander, binding an emotional knot between son and father and with the late Uffe Ellemann-Jensen’s huge and commentated legacy in the Baltics.

Afterwards, the C-130 headed towards Latvia for a visit to the Danish infantry battalion currently deployed in Camp Valdemar at the Ādaži Military Base in the outskirts of Riga. The Defence Minister and the delegation had a briefing, and a short tour in the camp, which was followed by a camp-style dinner where the delegation got the opportunity to talk to some of the soldiers. The talking continued during a static display of military equipment. The Minister of Defence also addressed the soldiers to thank them for their efforts and important contribution to regional security in the Baltic Sea region.

This was the Defence Minister's first visit to Estonia and second visit to Latvia since taking up the position a little bit than a month ago.