Estonian Reserve Officers Association took over CIOR presidency from Germany on August 5th in Athens.
By: Ingrid Mühling, Lt Cdr, Estonian Navy/ CIOR Public Affairs.
Lt Col Toomas Luman, new president of CIOR, said in his letter to CIOR committees, that in current security situation many countries pay more attention to reserve forces than years ago. „The post Cold War notion that NATO can be defended only by regular forces, is no longer valid. During our presidency we aim to harmonise NATO and partner countries understanding of the use of reserves and draw the attention of NATO`s Military Committee and Reserve Forces Committee (NRFC) to reserve forces issues. „Estonia´s defence is based on reserve force, we know what it means for a country, for employers and for the military to have a large reserve force“ he added.
Lt Col Luman emphasized that committees role in CIOR development should expand. „Committees are the cornerstone of our organization, they create value and outputs that will be visible to NATO and member nations“ he said. In order to make co-ordination between committees and presidential team smoother, committees have designated team members who help to co-ordinate their activities and solve problems if they occur.
Estonian presidential team comprises of officers from Belgium, Finland, Denmark, UK and Estonia. International members reflect the international nature of CIOR and help create synergy between member countries.
Estonian Reserve Officers Association was established 1997 and joined CIOR two years later. EROA became full member of CIOR after Estonia joined NATO. Estonia co-chaired CIOR presidency during UK´s chairmanship and organized number of CIOR events including Summer Congress 2019 and Late Summer Congress 2020. Next In Between Meeting and Summer Congress 2023 will be held in Helsinki, Finland.
 CIOR Permrep handing over the flag from German presidency to Estonian presidency. |
 From the left: new CIOR President Lt Col Toomas Luman, Estonian Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur, former CIOR president Capt (Navy) Jan Hörman |
 The incoming Estonian presidency team. |