Other events in Baltic States

Estonian lawmakers have decided to send an additional contingent of peacekeepers to Afghanistan to improve security ahead of the war-torn country's August 20 presidential election, the parliamentary press service said on Thursday.

Estonia initially planned to send the peacekeeping unit to Iraq, but Estonia officially ended its mission in Iraq in early February after the Iraqi government gave no request for the mission to be prolonged, writes LETA.

Over 20 countries have already decided on sending additional units to Afghanistan, including Finland, Sweden, Lithuania and Poland.

An Estonian 34-soldier infantry platoon returned from Iraq in December 2008. Estonian servicemen have been involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom since June 2003.