European Strategic Autonomy (ESA) is currently the subject of some debate and controversy. While this issue has been on the table since at least the 1990s, it was reinvigorated by the publication of the EU Global Strategy in 2016, itself a response to fundamental developments in European security.
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ICDS Research Fellow Kalev Stoicescu and Non-Resident Fellow Maxime Lebrun made a thorough analysis of the defence cooperation and partnership between Estonia and France.
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Estonia’s role in the world is not only related to our geographical location, instead, our future is increasingly shaped by global developments. Who will become a global superpower? What will be the position of Europe in the new world order – and Estonia’s place in that Europe? How should we face the new threats surrounding us? Is NATO the only answer?
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As part of its renewed focus on collective defence and deterrence, NATO is re-engaging with the maritime domain and navies are seeing greater levels of interest and investment. The states that surround the Baltic Sea have also begun to respond to new and rediscovered challenges to their maritime security, but more could be done individually and collectively.
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NATO battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland have been a success, according to ICDS research fellows Kalev Stoicescu and Pauli Järvenpää, presenting their recent report, “Contemporary Deterrence: Insights and Lessons from Enhanced Forward Presence”, to a full house on 1 February. “They are fully integrated into the land forces brigades and contribute to the self-defence capabilities of their host nations, the chain of command is clear and they are providing a deterrent presence.”
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Russia is neither ten feet tall nor the Soviet Union, but Northern Europe must take the situation as it is and not as we want it to be: the Russian military’s training and exercise pattern is very worrying, argued Colonel Dr John Andreas Olsen of the Royal Norwegian Air Force, Eerik Marmei, Director-General of the Policy Planning Department at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Tomas Jermalavičius, ICDS Head of Studies, at an ICDS Talk on 25 January.
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NATO decided, in July 2016, to establish an enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) in Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania and Poland.
President Emmanuel Macron has poked the hornet’s nest, calling in a 6 November interview for a “real European Army”.
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In recent years, NATO has made good progress in strengthening deterrence and defence postures on its eastern flank, including establishing a rotational Allied land component presence in the Baltic states and Poland.
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On 8-10 October, ICDS Head of Studies and Research Fellow Tomas Jermalavičius attended the high-level seminar “Eastern Partnership and European Security: Enhanced Cooperation to Overcome Common Challenges” which took place in Vilnius, Lithuania.
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