President Karis praised the reservists and extended his thanks to their families and employers for enabling them take part in the exercise at such short notice. “It shows that Estonia’s national defence is a responsibility we all share, and that everyone in the country can contribute to it in their own way,” he remarked.
The head of state was provided with an overview of the course of the snap exercise by Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces Martin Herem, Director General of the Police and Border Guard Board Elmar Vaher, Commander of the 2nd Infantry Brigade Colonel Tarmo Mets and Piusa Police Captain Paavo Mikson. President Karis met in situ with reservists taking part in the military exercise and inspected the installation of temporary barriers.
President Karis said that the exercise would be a realistic test of the cooperation between the Defence Forces and the Police and Border Guard Board. “Whatever crisis we happen to face, we need to be sure that cooperation between the two will be seamless,” he advised. “At the same time, the exercise will help to reinforce the external border of NATO and the European Union.”
Commander Herem says that ‘Okas 2021’ will provide the Defence Forces and Police and Border Guard Board with valuable experience. “As part of the exercise, we are dealing jointly with a problem we may actually face at some point,” he explained. “So far, the barriers we have been erecting have gone up very quickly, and our intelligence company are keeping a close eye on the situation. We can see that our units are giving it their all and that our cooperation with the Police and Border Guard Board is working very effectively.”
Although ‘Okas 2021’ is an ordinary exercise in combat readiness, President Karis says it also serves as a much-needed signal amid the tension of the ongoing security situation caused by the hybrid attack being waged by Belarus on the borders of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia.
“Things are quiet on the Estonian border for the moment, but we are prepared for more troubled times and for a wide range of situations,” the head of state confirmed. “This exercise will leave us even better prepared and make cooperation even more effective across the board. Both figuratively and literally, Estonia’s national defence is barbed, and we will not be dropping our guard.”
‘Okas 2021’ is designed to rehearse decision-making and test responses along the entire chain of command of Estonian national defence, from the government to reservists, in rapidly changing situations. With a decision of the government, the reservists enlisted in the 17th and 27th engineer battalions and 191st and 291st intelligence companies were called up for the snap exercise, which is designed to boost not only the testing of combat readiness but also cooperation with the Police and Border Guard Board, supporting them in reinforcing Estonian-Russian lines of control.
