Herem said the section discussing personnel turnover in the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) and his assessments of the sustainability of national defense is both uninformed and malicious.

The draft report states: "For example, former commander of the Defense Forces, Gen. Martin Herem, has presented several contradictory assessments and objectives in his briefings. When introducing the situation and turnover of defense personnel to the Riigikogu National Defense Committee, he described it as satisfactory or rather good; however, two weeks later, through the media, he called it difficult. During a debate held by the previous composition of the Riigikogu on March 23, 2021 on the issue of 'The Sustainable Development of National Military Defense,' Gen. Herem said on the Riigikogu floor that if defense spending were increased to 2.6 percent of GDP, the Defense Forces would be capable not only of defending Estonia, but of contributing to the defense of the entire Baltic region. Yet shortly before the end of his term, he submitted a significantly larger short-term resource need for the Defense Forces totaling €1.6 billion (initially even €4 billion), which was mistakenly referred to as the commander's recommendation."

"I clearly remember that meeting with the National Defense Committee," Herem said. "The question was about personnel leaving service. The committee claimed a large number of people were quitting. I replied that 'turnover' — those leaving and those joining — was balanced. Fewer than 10 percent leave annually, which is normal. An equal or greater number are joining. The issue was the departure of service members turning 50, which I addressed with a proposal that some committee members did not support. I also said the number of new recruits obviously needs to be higher than it is today, because the Defense Forces is understaffed. I never said the overall personnel situation was good. If the committee wants to address the issue, they should talk about the substance, not create artificial contradictions in my statements. I stress: an annual attrition rate of up to 10 percent of personnel is normal, but that alone does not make the situation satisfactory, let alone good."

'I suspect ignorance or malice'

"What follows regarding the budget and capability development is blatantly, outrageously foolish," Herem said. "I understand if an ordinary member of the Riigikogu failed to grasp my message, but when it comes to generals, I again suspect either ignorance or malice."

"My remarks from that time are available online. In 2021, I indeed stated that if we allocated 2.6 percent of GDP to national defense over a 10-year period, we would be able to develop capabilities that would allow us not only to operate within Estonian territory, but also to project military effects beyond it and thereby contribute to the defense of the Baltic region. I emphasize — over a 10-year period.

The 2024 proposal to procure ammunition was aimed at rapidly acquiring munitions for weapons that were either in development or already in service. Generally, the state of ammunition stockpiles isn't discussed publicly, but the need for munitions has been well known to all defense ministers since at least 2016," Herem said.

"The 2024 proposal did not present ordinary ammunition quantities and prices. Rather, it clarified the purpose behind a specific quantity of ammunition and was linked to concrete figures regarding Russian military assets. Several members of the committee did not support the proposal, calling for additional analysis and pointing to the role of our allies.

Now, by artificially pitting those two proposals against each other, I get the impression that the report's authors either failed to understand the substance — which would be especially embarrassing in the case of generals — or are pursuing goals other than the development of Estonia's national defense.

In the end, my aim is not to defend my views or justify their content. But I assert that the specific section in the report reflects ignorance and malice. And I, in turn, admit that I certainly should have expected this," Herem said.

'Am I entitled to an explanation and apology from Meelis Kiili personally or through the courts?'

Herem also objected to a section of the draft report that addresses hiring practices within the Defense Forces.

"The working group found that in filling higher-level positions, competence is not always the determining factor — often, political loyalty or clique-based connections take precedence. This leads to a situation where leadership is unable to form a clear vision or earn public trust. When key national figures lack sufficient strategic thinking and communication skills, information gaps emerge, which are then filled by rumors, social media narratives or enemy information operations," the report states.

"The working group supposedly found that people are often appointed to positions in the Defense Forces based not on their qualifications, but on their connections. The report doesn't mention any names or positions. So the question arises — who exactly are they talking about? Presumably, the members of the working group aren't referring to the officers among their own ranks, all of whom have held senior positions in the Defense Forces. But in that case, all other generals and admirals — and perhaps even colonels and navy captains — should clarify, in the interest of protecting the EDF's reputation, which of them does not fall under that description," Herem said.

"The authors of the document claim people are appointed based on connections rather than competence. Am I supposed to personally request, or take to court, Meelis Kiili to get a clarification and an apology stating he didn't mean me? And should everyone else who feels targeted do the same? And what impact does this kind of 'finding' have on the reputation of the Defense Forces? Naturally, not much, because to most people, this whole 'reporting process' seems, to put it mildly, ridiculous," he added.

Of the effects of Covid in the EDF

The next point in the report Herem raised concerned the EDF's policy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, all members of the contractual active service under the Ministry of Defense's jurisdiction — both military personnel and civilian employees, including a veteran wounded in Afghanistan — who refused to be vaccinated against the coronavirus were dismissed. At that time, based on lessons from the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and the Taliban's successful campaign, it was already evident from open-source assessments that vaccination status had no identifiable effect on combat outcomes, since the virus primarily endangered older individuals with complex underlying health conditions — not healthy, combat-capable soldiers. Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine confirmed that point again. Not once did COVID-19 or its impact come up in any military dispatches."

Herem said that he wouldn't have expected such a stance from most political parties.

"First of all, as far as I know, COVID had a fairly significant impact on manpower in the Ukrainian war. Casualties don't just refer to the dead, wounded, missing or captured — they also include those temporarily unable to perform duties due to illness or accident. In March 2022, if memory serves, respiratory illnesses accounted for more than half of daily personnel losses. It's perfectly logical that people stopped testing for COVID. But if someone claims that COVID had no impact at all, they ought to provide at least some proof," Herem said.

"What's even more surprising is hearing such accusations from Estonian officers. Of course, in most cases, COVID didn't seriously harm healthy individuals. But the illness did remove people from service for several days — sometimes more than a week," he added.

"In 2021, Belarus was orchestrating a migration attack on its neighbors, Russia was preparing for war against Ukraine and was otherwise acting aggressively toward us. The generals who authored this report may not have been actively engaged in operational readiness issues, but one would think they'd realize that in such a situation, there's no justification for allowing intelligence sensors — which ensure early warning — to go offline for days. Or for readiness units to be weakened. Defense Forces analysis showed that such risks were real. At the same time, we had to continue training and cooperation, internally and with allies. Vaccination supported that goal if only from a legal standpoint.

It's deeply disheartening to have to explain yet again — even to generals now — that in 2021, vaccination within the Defense Forces resulted in an infection rate six times lower than that of the general population. And even if the report's authors served only briefly in military units, one would think they'd remember what barracks conditions are like — essentially ideal incubators for a virus. That makes our results all the more impressive. Our readiness indicators were strong," Herem commented.

"The other COVID-related sections in this so-called report are just as unfair. For example, the claim that dismissed service members were not later reinstated is simply false. They were, if the person wanted to return and was fit for duty," he added.

'Peak ignorance'

The elimination of the chaplaincy service from the Defense Forces also drew significant attention. The draft report states:

"The importance of the chaplaincy service may seem minimal in peacetime, since there is no need to care for the fallen or notify their loved ones. But if defense personnel are viewed as interchangeable human units — as the Russian armed forces do — then their souls indeed require no attention. The Estonian Defense Forces cannot afford such an attitude. Therefore, the working group considers the elimination of the peacetime chaplaincy service (although one chaplain was retained) a mistake. Wartime activities must be planned and prepared during peacetime. If chaplains do not handle the care of the fallen, that responsibility will fall to commanders — or worse, risk going unaddressed on the battlefield. The same applies to notifying the families of the fallen — it, too, would fall on commanders."

Herem called this section a "peak moment of ignorance" on the part of the report's authors.

"First of all, the chaplains' primary duty is not to care for the fallen or inform their families," Herem said. "It's not realistic to think that a wartime chaplain attached to a specific unit would drive around Estonia notifying next of kin. That kind of idea comes from isolated peacetime cases and from people who have never actually worked on the issue. Today, in peacetime, such notifications are generally handled by the unit commander and a psychologist, with a chaplain included when possible. But that arrangement doesn't work in wartime," he noted.

"Second, the comparison with Russia is profoundly foolish. The Russian Federation's armed forces actually have a significant number of chaplains, but their attitude toward individual service members is drastically different from ours. It's unclear what point that example is supposed to prove. Somehow the authors manage to ignore the fact that in 2024, the Spring Storm exercise had a record number of chaplains in the history of the Estonian Defense Forces. When evaluating the chaplaincy service, perhaps someone could have interviewed the chief chaplain or the Council of Churches," Herem commented.

"In summary, the inclusion of this topic in a text that aims to be a 'national defense report' seems like a convenient way to discredit someone. It increasingly feels like this is a letter from Prostokvashino — several characters have contributed to it, but no reasonable person has actually read the whole thing through," he said.

The draft report then moved on to discuss the military orchestra:

"It's the same story with the Ddefense Forces' orchestra. While its role may seem modest at first glance, it serves critical functions in military organizational culture that must be upheld. These also include national ceremonial duties, which cannot simply be neglected. According to the working group, the elimination of the military orchestra weakened organizational culture and had a negative impact on the moral component of defense capability. The financial savings (the orchestra still exists under the Ministry of Defense as a military orchestra and the taxpayer continues to cover its costs) are insignificant compared to the harm this decision and the associated processes and consequences have caused to the moral fabric of our national defense."

"To say 'it's the same story' is right — yet another vague, uninformed opinion," Herem responded.

"All national ceremonial duties are still being performed. The claim that organizational culture and the moral component of defense capability have been weakened is not supported by anything. No satisfaction or commitment surveys show any such link, not among conscripts, active-duty personnel, reservists or civilian staff. Without such a study, you simply can't make that claim. So all this talk of a 'moral component' is nothing more than weak literary rhetoric, unsupported by facts and flat-out wrong," Herem said.

He suggested the authors may have assumed that including such a topic would lend weight to their critiques, but they ended up revealing surprising ignorance instead.

"Before the reorganization, the orchestra cost €1.5 million annually. Afterward, it costs €0.5 million. A savings of one million euros per year — which these 'reporters' call insignificant. For that so-called 'insignificant' amount, we could hire 30 fitness instructors or psychologists who play a very real role in supporting the moral component. The savings came from reduced workload, contract changes and a drastic reduction in the number of performances. And most of the canceled performances had nothing to do with the Defense Forces or the state.

When discussing the military orchestras of our allied countries, the authors again reveal their 'shortsightedness.' In many cases, those orchestras operate under contracts that allow musicians to work outside the defense forces or their unit's orchestra," Herem said.

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