Other events in Baltic States

In the morning of the Veterans Day on Wednesday, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves opened a monument in North West Estonian town of Paldiski dedicated to the Estonian military who have been killed at foreign operations, LETA/Public Broadcasting reports.

The cross and plaque with names of nine military killed in Afghanistan were brought from the Helmand province of Afghanistan, where the president inaugurated it in October 2010. Now, names of all Estonian military who have been killed at foreign operations have been engraved in the monument that was opened anew.

The president repeated at the re-opening of the monument his words said in 2010: "We remember and mourn all brave Estonian soldiers who have fallen in the name of safety of the Afghanistan people, in the name of Estonia and our allies." He added that the military killed in other foreign operations are in our minds the same way.

Riigikogu state defence committee chairman Mati Raidma, defence minister Sven Mikser, Defence Forces Commander-in-Chief Riho Terras, chiefs of military units, representatives of allies, Reserve Officers Assembly representatives and veterans were present at the ceremony.

The monument was opened in the Estonian camp of Camp Bastion in Afghanistan in October 2010 and was there till autumn 2013 after which it was brought to the location of the foreign operations units in Paldiski.

There are around 2,500 veterans in Estonia, of whom nearly 150 have been injured in action.