French, Estonian Top Diplomats Discuss Security In Europe - Tallinn

The French and Estonian foreign ministers, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Sven Mikser, met in Paris on Thursday to discuss security in Europe and beyond, the Baltic nation's ministry said.

TALLINN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th September, 2018) The French and Estonian foreign ministers, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Sven Mikser, met in Paris on Thursday to discuss security in Europe and beyond, the Baltic nation's ministry said.

"We highly appreciate France's contribution to the security of our region in the framework of NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence and the Baltic Air Policing mission," Mikser was quoted as saying in the statement.

At the Warsaw summit in 2016, NATO agreed to deploy multinational troops eastward to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland on a rotational basis.

The Estonian diplomat said his country was delighted by the planned return next year of French forces to the Tapa base.

The ministers also discussed the Estonian contribution to France's Operation Barkhane against militants in Mali. Mikser said his country's involvement proved that the small Baltic state was ready to provide security outside the region. Estonia sent an infantry unit to a base near Gao in August.