Former Pärnu County manor house site to host planned NATO corps staff post
The grounds of a former manor in Pärnu County are to host a planned NATO corps staff post.
A vote passed at Pärnu city council to transfer the four properties, located on the terrain of the former Sauga manor, just outside Pärnu, free of charge.
Mayor of Pärnu Romek Kosenkranius (Reform) relayed a briefing given by EDF commander Gen. Andrus Merilo which states the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) are also set to deploy a military unit at the location, though no live firing range will be in place there.
€17 million has been allocated in the state budget to that end. The EDF says it does not want the entire Sauga manor zone; a 10-hectare area between the extension of Uus-Sauga street and the Sauga River is under the plans envisaged to remain a recreational area, freely accessible to residents.
Pärnu city council deputies from Isamaa, the Reform Party, the Pärnu Ühendab electoral alliance were joined by independent deputies in signing the declaration supporting the free transfer of the Sauga buildings to the EDF. The opposition parties, which in Pärnu are the Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE), The Center Party, and the Estonian Nationalists and Conservatives (ERK), mostly voted against the transfer, Pärnu Postimees reported.
The NATO corps staff element at the Sauga manor grounds is still at decision stage. Ministry of Defense Secretary General Kaimo Kuusk has said a result will likely be found in the coming months.
Originally the land had been earmarked for the volunteer Defense League.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Mirjam Mäekivi
