Given the Russian aggression against Ukraine, Estonia and Latvia are intensifying their efforts to strengthen their military capabilities. The two Baltic countries, which are members of the EU and NATO, plan to modernize and expand their fleet of military vehicles through joint procurement.
The Estonian Center for Defense Investments has entered into a framework agreement with local representatives of manufacturers Volvo, Scania, and Mercedes Benz. The agreement spans seven years and has a total value of approximately 693 million euros, as announced by the authority. It covers logistics vehicles for road transportation as well as tactical vehicles that can be deployed both off-road and on-road. Prior to this step, Estonia and Latvia had already deepened their cooperation in the defense sector. Both countries, bordering Russia, had jointly agreed to purchase the German medium-range air defense system Iris-T, as reported by the German news platform n-tv.de.
Image: president.gov.ua, Ukraine – NATO Commission chaired by Petro Poroshenko (2017-07-10) 48, CC-BY-4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size changed)
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