ESTONIA: NO COMMENT ON REQUEST TO INCREASE NTM-I

C O N F I D E N T I A L TALLINN 000256 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB KATHERINE GARRY E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/23/2018 TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL IZ EN SUBJECT: ESTONIA: NO COMMENT ON REQUEST TO INCREASE NTM-I SUPPORT Classified by: CDA KAREN DECKER for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d) REF: STATE 73794 ¶1. (C) Over the past several weeks, post has engaged both the Estonian MFA and MOD concerning prospects for increased Estonian support for the NATO Training Mission in Iraq (NTM-I) in accordance with commitments made at the Bucharest Summit. Currently, Estonia has three staff officers assigned to the NTM-I. The MOD's preliminary response indicated that it is unlikely that Estonia will be able to make additional NTM-I contributions at this time due to resource limitations and its other contributions to international operations. (NOTE: Estonia also contributes 38 forces to the concurrent OIF mission in Iraq and has forces in Afghanistan. END NOTE.) However, the Estonian Defense Forces and border guard are still discussing this issue. Post will continue to engage the GOE and report back any new information. DECKER