TALLINN, December 19. /NEWSBALTIC/. The Minister of Defence of Estonia, Hanno Pevkur, announced an increase in the number of conscripts serving annually to 4,100. Also, their service period will be extended to 12 months. These changes will take effect starting in 2027. As press service of the Defence Ministry claimed, the aim of this change is to ensure greater permanent combat readiness for the Estonian Defence.
“Due to the security situation, we have significantly developed Estonia’s defence capabilities in recent years. We have also already acquired, and are still acquiring, notable new capabilities, such as rocket launchers and medium-range air defence, which require the Estonian Defence Forces to adapt their training and improve quality. To this end, we will focus on training instructors of the Estonian Defence Forces in 2026 so that we can launch the renewed conscription system at the beginning of 2027. As a result, the overall combat readiness of the Defence Forces and their ability to defend the Estonian state will increase,” Pevkur declared.
Recalling, earlier NEWSBALTIC reported that Major General Vahur Karus, Chief of the General Staff of the Estonian Defence Forces, proposed increasing the number of conscripts to dispatch them along the border with Russia to take “the first blow of the sledgehammer.”
Obviously, the reforms of the Estonian army and Karus’ proposal are links in one chain—militarisation and preparation to war Russia. And these changes to the drafting process are aimed at obtaining cheap, almost free manpower for the armed forces, as they are not a big deal to sacrifice.
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