On Thursday, the UK's Financial Times wrote the U.S. plans to "phase out" several security assistance programs for armies along Russia's border as it pushes Europe to spend more on defense.

It said a training program that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have benefited from, known as section 333, will be scrapped.

The Baltic Security Initiative (BSI), started in 2020, may also not be extended beyond 2025. Over the last five years, it has allocated approximately €1.3 billion to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

A bipartisan bill has been submitted to Congress to continue funding the BSI from 2026-2028, but it has not been agreed upon yet.

The report comes amid discussions that the U.S. is planning to withdraw some of its forces from Europe in the coming years.

However, the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, through which most of the military assistance funding from the U.S. comes, will not be touched, the FT reported.

Commenting on the article on Friday, Pevkur (Reform) told ERR that Estonia has had good cooperation with U.S. administrations throughout the years. This has helped to develop the Estonian Defense Forces via the FMF and BSI.

Estonia has acquired HIMARS, Javelin anti-tank missiles, and various electronic cyber capabilities with the funding, which have strengthened the EDF.

Symbolic value

However, Pevkur said due to Estonia's hugely increased defense budget, the aid from the U.S. is no longer a decisive factor in its planning.

In July, politicians laid out plans to spend €10 billion on defense from 2026-2029, allocating more than 5 percent of GDP each year. This will make Estonia proportionally one of the top spenders in the NATO alliance.

"If we look at the scale, especially in light of the growth of our state budget, then all this aid accounts for less than 5 percent – it does not have a very big impact. More than anything, it has symbolic value, that we are doing things together with the United States," the minister said.

Pevkur said the decision to suspend funding ultimately rests with the U.S. Congress.

"[But] Congress has generally shown strong support for both the Baltic states and these foreign assistance programs," the defense minister said, adding he did not want to make predictions.

According to current information, Pevkur said activities between the U.S. and Estonia continue and aid programs will last for at least another year.

"We will see. We have already planned our Ministry of Defense development plan and the Defense Forces' investments, and no drastic changes will come. The message is rather more political," he noted.

Estonia will manage

Asked whether he sees an impact from the U.S. president's decision on Estonia's defense capability, the minister replied: "As I said, militarily we can manage. The investments we have planned, and our decision to allocate 5 percent [of GDP] to national defense, will help us cope well."

"But naturally, if there is an opportunity to get additional funds for national defense — whether from the United States, from NATO's investment program, or elsewhere — this further helps strengthen our own defense capability, and we have always made use of such foreign aid whenever it has been available," Pevkur said.

U.S. security assistance for various defense projects in Estonia tripled between 2022–2024 compared to 2019–2021, from approximately U.S. $122 million to U.S. $430 million.

This support has been used, for example, to replenish large-caliber ammunition stockpiles, improve communications capabilities, enhance air surveillance, and develop night combat capabilities.

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