Government approves principles of Estonia’s fight against terrorism

Press release no. 119

Today, 17 August, the Estonian government approved a document setting out the principles of the country's fight against terrorism. "The fight against terrorism has become an important object of both public attention and international relations and internal political discussions," said Interior Minister Kalle Laanet. "According to the Security Police there are no indications that terrorist groups have attempted to organise acts of terrorism in Estonia to date or that there are any supporters of terrorism in the country. The main objective of the document that has been signed today is to make the fight against terrorism even more effective so that in the future we will be able to keep the likelihood of terrorist acts occurring low."

The goals of the principles behind the fight against terrorism are to confirm Estonia's comprehensive anti-terrorism policy and to inform both the public and the country's foreign partners of its fight against terrorism.

The document comprises three chapters and one annex. The first chapter describes the need for the formation of the strategy, the general aims of Estonia's fight against terrorism, the document's connections with others of higher authority, the contents of the strategy and the principles behind its approval. The second chapter details the definition of terrorism used in Estonia, the nature of terrorism and the threat of terrorism in Estonia and the world. The third chapter describes the goals of anti-terrorist action and the framework within which the prediction, prevention and detection of terrorism take place and, if necessary, resolution of emergency situations.

According to the document the general aim of Estonia's fight against terrorism is to defend the safety of the people and the security of the state. In order to achieve this systematic and coordinated action is required in the prevention of terrorist acts and the funding of terrorists and in guaranteeing readiness to resolve emergency situations connected to terrorism. In fighting terrorism Estonia considers respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms to be of great importance.

The document was produced by an anti-terrorism board which began its work last year. The board's tasks were to prepare strategic documents associated with the fight against terrorism and to support cooperation between institutions. The work of the board is led by the Ministry of the Interior and the board is made up of experts from the Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs, the Security Police, the Information Board, the Border Guard, the office of the Coordination Director, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the Tax and Customs Board and the intelligence battalion of the Defence Forces.