Maryland's governor and Estonia's deputy governor sign a memorandum of understanding in 2009 - an extension of the relationship begun in 1993 - designed to encourage and strengthen cultural and social relationships between the two countries.The Estonian ambassador to the United States visits the Army Aviation Support Facility in Maryland to meet with Estonian Air Force pilots training with the Maryland Army National Guard.
History
EU and NATO accession in 2004 / Eurozone in Jan 2011
The Estonian economy has recovered to pre-crisis levels and is reporting approximately 1.9% growth.
Major concerns: energy security, cyber defense, emigration "brain drain" and initial defense.
NATO is the cornerstone of Estonia's National Security. Their defense model focuses on Initial Defense and NATO led Expeditionary Operations.
Estonia cooperates extensively with Latvia and Lithuania on joint military exercises. However, Estonia views itself primarily as a Nordic country, not Baltic and has close cultural and governmental ties with those countries.[3]
Partnership focus
The current focus of the Maryland-Estonia Partnership is purely military-to-military based and includes ISAF Operational Support, Cyber Defense, Special Operations Forces (SOF) development, EST Air Force development, and the development of a Veteran Care/Warrior Warrior Program. To this end, Estonia hopes to improve training and force protection in support of ISAF and export expertise in cyber defense, explosive ordnance disposal, and E-governance to other NATO/EU nations. Additionally, Estonia seeks opportunities to increase their support of international operations, co-deployments with MD and enhanced regional M2M/Security Cooperation efforts.[3]
