Secretary of Defense Ash Carter met with Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas in separate meetings in Tallinn, Estonia.
Secretary Carter emphasized the United States' iron clad commitment to Estonia's security under NATO's Article 5, including plans to maintain a persistent rotational presence in all of the Baltic countries and to temporarily position armored vehicles and equipment in Estonia, as well as Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania to support training and exercises in Central and Eastern Europe.
Secretary Carter thanked President Ilves and Prime Minister Rõivas for Estonia's long-term support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and for meeting NATO's two percent defense funding goal. He also commended Estonia's leadership in the area of cyber defense and announced additional U.S. support to the Estonian-led NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence.