Estonia not invited to US meeting on NATO’s future in Poland — ERR News

As ERR News reports, Estonia has not received an invitation to a planned US-led meeting in Poland, where NATO allies will discuss the Alliance’s future.

Estonian government’s position

Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal stressed that the planned meeting is not an official NATO event. According to him, this format was launched in Bergen at the initiative of the United States. Defence ministers, foreign affairs ministers and ambassadors took part in it, but decisions in NATO are made at the Alliance’s working level.

Michal also called the JEF format important for Estonia. He noted that the country maintains contacts in the Nordic-Baltic region outside NATO, which nevertheless largely brings allies together.

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Who may not take part

US outlet Politico previously wrote that the United States plans not to invite several allies to the meeting, including the Baltic states. According to six diplomats familiar with the event’s preparations, the meeting in Poland, to be chaired by Pentagon political affairs chief Elbridge Colby, will effectively take the form of a working group on NATO’s future.

As reported, the United Kingdom and France may also be left out of the meeting. Estonian Defence Minister Martin Herem said that if the Nordic countries are invited to the meeting, they will be interested in taking Estonia’s interests into account, particularly on Baltic Sea security issues.