On June 30, 2016, a Polish infantry company arrived in Estonia to train with members of the Estonian Defence Forces and other allied troops that have been deployed here.
Around 150 soldiers of the 5th Infantry Company of the 7th Mechanised Infantry Battalion of the 17th Mechanised Infantry Brigade of the Polish Armed Forces will be conducting training and joint exercises in each of the Baltic states over the course of a month. The Polish unit arrived in Estonia from Latvia, where they participated in the Saber Strike exercise and different cooperative training exercises with members of the U.S. and Latvian Armed Forces. On the first day of August, the company will be rotating to Lithuania to conduct cooperative exercises with units of the Lithuanian Armed Forces. In Estonia, the Polish company will be stationed in Jõhvi with the Viru Infantry Battalion.
“Our objective in the Baltic states is for us and the allies to study each other’s tactics, as well as to get to know the terrain of the Baltics. We want to become friends,” said Capt. Krzysztof Ilnicki, Commander of the 5th Infantry Company, and added that although the troops will be spending most of their time on the exercise grounds, they will also try to find time to get acquainted with the hosting Ida-Viru County, as well as the local residents.
Their column of Rosomak armoured personnel carriers and lorries crossed the Latvian-Estonian border in Ikla at mid-day on 30 June 2016, and was escorted by the Estonian Military Police on the Ikla-Pärnu-Türi-Mäo-Tapa-Rakvere-Jõhvi route.
