The Riigikogu National Defense Committee approved the shortened national defense report on Thursday. The report was originally 240 pages long, but now it is ten times shorter.
The committee chairman Kalev Stoicescu said that the report consists of a three-page foreword, two and a half pages of recommendations, and about 20 pages of analysis. He emphasized that the report now contains only conclusions and recommendations, not lengthy analyses.
Stoicescu said that shortening the report was his suggestion. He added that a shorter text is more suitable for drafting the basis of security policy.
The report is not yet final. Committee members have the right to add their dissenting opinions. When these are submitted, the report can be finally approved and published.
Stoicescu did not specify exactly what the report's recommendations are. He said that they concern defense planning and national defense. He stressed that the report is a recommendatory document, not a law or a decision.
The committee deputy chairman Leo Kunnas said that the report's recommendations will influence security policy and other laws. However, they are not mandatory.
In November, a draft of the report was published, which criticized former Defense Forces chiefs Riho Terras and Martin Herem. The draft also criticized the transfer of Defense Forces functions to other state institutions.