Estonian president promotes defense forces commander

18.02.2008

The president's proposal to promote the defense forces commander to lieutenant general was supported by members of the National Defense Council who met on Monday.

"Ants Laaneots was one of the men who restored the Estonian defense forces and one of the most respected and experienced officers," Ilves said.

"During Laaneots' term of office there had been considerably more awareness of the problems facing our state defense and as defense forces commander Ants Laaneots has contributed to improvement between the leadership of the defense forces and the civilian leadership of state defense. These are positive developments and I wish Lt. Gen. Laaneots success in moving on along the same road," the president said.

Ilves also expressed the pleasure that Estonia will receive a new general by the 90th anniversary of the Estonian state as at a proposal by the defense forces commander the president promoted commander of the Estonian Air Force Valeri Saar to brigadier general.

"I am also pleased to note that several of our younger and more energetic officers will be promoted; so I today promoted German Kesa and Indrek Sirel to colonels and commander of the Navy Igor Schvede to captain. All these people are known to me as educated and intelligent officers.

The Parliament appointed Laaneots commander of the defense forces in December 2006; he was promoted to major general in 1998.

Laaneots was born on January 6, 1948 in Kilingi-Nomme, Parnu County. Laaneots graduated from the Soviet tank forces school in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and the Malinovsky academy of tank forces in Moscow. He has also studied at the NATO Defense College in Rome and passed a senior command course in Finland.

As a member of the Soviet military, Laaneots served for some time as adviser to the commander of an infantry division and army corps in Ethiopia. After returning to Estonia, he served as head of the office in charge of military recruitment and reserve in Tartu from 1989-1991, retiring from the Soviet military in the rank of colonel.

After Estonia had regained its independence, the government in the fall of 1991 tasked Laaneots with reestablishing the General Staff, which Laaneots headed in 1991-1994. During the next two years Laaneots worked as regional director for the private security firm ESS.

He was appointed defense forces' chief inspector in 1997 and again headed the General Staff from 1997-1999.

Before his appointment as chief of the National Defense College in 2001, Laaneots headed the Baltic Center for Defense Studies. In 2002 he was appointed Estonia's military attache to Russia and Ukraine.

Laaneots is bearer of the Eagle Cross, Class Two, service badges of the defense forces, the Interior Ministry and the Rescue Board, the Defense League service medal, the Border Guard service cross the the 19th anniversaryh of restored defense forces memorial medal.

Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8814, sise@bns.ee

Baltic News Service