LONDON

Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have agreed on building a "Baltic Defence Line" along the eastern border to build "defence nests where it is necessary," the Estonian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

Defense Ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania approved the concept of "building anti-mobility defensive installations on the borders with Russia and Belarus," the ministry said in a statement, adding that it would be completed in coming years.

"Russia's war in Ukraine has shown that in addition to equipment, ammunition, and manpower, physical defensive installations on the border are also needed to defend Estonia from the first meter," Estonia's Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur said.


He noted that the purpose of defense installations is to prevent a military conflict in the region.

"We are undertaking this effort so that the people of Estonia can feel safe, but if the slightest risk emerged, we would be ready for various developments more promptly," Pevkur added.

The Ministry noted that the concept of defensive installations is based on the decisions made at the NATO Summit in Madrid which emphasized that allies must be ready to defend the territory and new regional defense plans must be developed.

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, part of the Soviet Union until 1991, are now part of the EU, and NATO and are allies of Ukraine, where Russia launched a "special military operation" in February 2022.