Britain Will Send 4,000 Troops to Estonia to Protect Against Attacks in the Baltic Sea
Great Britain will send approximately four thousand troops to Estonia as part of the deployment of a twenty-thousand-strong contingent in Northern Europe in 2024.
This was reported by ERR, referring to the words of the Estonian Minister of Defense, Hanno Pevkur.
According to Pevkur, British soldiers will provide additional protection for local land and underwater infrastructure from possible hybrid attacks. At the same time, the British minister emphasized that the military personnel would be sent to Estonia gradually over the course of a year.
"This is precisely to strengthen the presence of allies in the Baltic Sea, where this infrastructure is located at sea. We are also talking about what happened last September with Nord Stream and now with the Balticconnector, and even with the cable between Estonia and Finland. Thus, we intend to demonstrate that we will protect this infrastructure. This is a security issue, and we will not ignore such sabotage," said Kalev Stoychesku, the head of the parliamentary defense committee.
It is worth noting that earlier, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Rishi Sunak, announced that his country plans to "strengthen its presence" in Northern Europe by uniting with partners in the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).
Thus, according to Sunak, over 20,000 British soldiers, marines, and Air Force personnel, as well as eight Royal Navy ships, 25 aircraft, and an aviation operational group with Apache, Chinook, and Wildcat helicopters, will be deployed throughout 2024.
"The British aircraft carrier strike group is already in the region for the autumn deployment, underscoring the commitment of Great Britain to this region. The group is led by the flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by five British ships, F35 Lightning II stealth fighters, and Wildcat helicopters," Sunak said.
All forces of the British Army will also take part in large-scale international exercises, patrol airspace, and train in cold weather conditions.
It is worth noting that on the night of October 9th to 10th, there was a gas leak in the Balticconnector gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia. After this, Finnish political and military circles began discussing Russia's involvement in the damage to the gas pipeline.
It should be recalled that earlier, the members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), consisting of ten Northern European countries led by Great Britain, invited Ukraine to participate in future exercises as an observer.