As the conflict in Ukraine continues, NATO seeks to strengthen itself against Russia. Thus, an Estonian military base has just been reopened after major work.
Estonian military base reopened by NATO
Since the rise of geopolitical tensions in Eastern Europe, Estonia, key member of NATO, is intensifying its defense efforts. The recent reopening of the Ämari military base, a few dozen kilometers from Tallinn, marks a major strategic turning point in the fight for the security of the Baltic region. This is a significant strengthening of NATO's operational capabilities against Russia.
Ämari Air Base, initially established in 1997 for Estonian national defense needs, has gradually evolved to become a pillar of NATO's defense posture in the Baltic States. Following Estonia's accession to NATO in 2004, Ämari joined the network collective air defense of the Alliance. After several weeks of renovations, Estonia has just increased its capacity to accommodate allied forces.
Ämari has just reopened after considerable modernization work. Supervised by the Estonian Defense Investment Centre, this renovation involved the refurbishment of 275,000 square meters of runways and taxiways, as well as an optimized drainage system and reinforced marking of operational areas. This infrastructure update cost 18.5 million euros, 6.5 million of which was covered by Estonia. The rest, 12 million, was financed by Luxembourg, with reimbursement provided by NATO common funds.
A pillar of the Baltic air policing mission
The Ämari base is, along with that of Šiauliai in Lithuania, one of the two main NATO operational platforms for the Baltic air policing mission. This mission, crucial for the air defense of the Baltic States, relies on a permanent deployment of allied fighter planes to monitor and secure this strategic airspace. Since 2004, Šiauliai has played a central role, while Ämari became a second major anchor point in 2014.
With the commissioning of these modernized facilities, Ämari is ready to welcome the F-35s of the Royal Netherlands Air Force from December 1, 2024. Thus, these fifth generation fighters will strengthen NATO's defense capabilities and provide increased protection against air threats in northern Europe.
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