More than 600 graduates of the Estonian National Defence Course (ENDC) will gather today at Tallinn’s Creative Hub for a conference to discuss Estonian foreign and security policy and national defence.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will open the second ENDC graduates’ national defence conference and Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur will also address the gathering. President Alar Karis will deliver the closing address.
Secretary of State Taimar Peterkop, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence Kusti Salm, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jonatan Vseviov, Permanent Representative of Estonia to NATO Jüri Luik, Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces Martin Herem, Member of the Riigikogu Leo Kunnas and other leading state officials and experts will analyse Estonia’s foreign and security policy, military defence and national defence more broadly.
“ENDC graduates know how Estonia’s defence policy is born and have practised solving major and serious security crises under the guidance of experts during their course,” said Madis Mikko, Director of ENDC. “Now that Russia’s brutal war of aggression is going on in Europe and we have several years of healthcare crisis behind us, it is important to summarise the knowledge and experience accumulated over the years and discuss the present and future of Estonian national defence together. I am sure that the more our graduates contribute to Estonian defence policy discussions, the better it will be for our country.”
The first ENDC graduates’ conference took place in 2019.
The ENDC was first offered in 1999, and almost 2,300 people have completed the course since. Graduates include heads of municipalities, businesses and public organisations, doctors, journalists, civil servants, politicians and senior military officers. Among the graduates are also three prime ministers, two commanders of the defence forces and about a hundred members of the Riigikogu. More information about the course: https://krkk.icds.ee/en/.
The International Centre for Defence and Security organises the second national defence conference together with the Government Office, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Police and Border Guard Board. The conference is supported by Swedbank, Nortal, Itella and SK ID Solutions. The conference programme: https://icds.ee/en//download/47066385/.