Ants Laaneots (born 16 January 1948) is an Estonian politician and former military officer. He was previously the
Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces
The Commander of the Defence Forces is the Chief of the Estonian Defence Forces and the national defence organisations.
List of Commander of the Defence Forces
, -style="text-align:center;"
, colspan=7, ''Vacant'' Soviet occupation
, -
, - ...
and a veteran officer in the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
. Laaneots previously served as the
Commandant
Commandant ( or ) is a title often given to the officer in charge of a military (or other uniformed service) training establishment or academy. This usage is common in English-speaking nations. In some countries it may be a military or police ran ...
of the
Estonian National Defence College
The Estonian Military Academy ( et, Kaitseväe Akadeemia) is an institution of applied higher education for national defence in Tartu, Estonia.
The institutions mission is to train and educate regular officers for the Estonian Defence Forces ...
from 2001 to 2006. He was appointed the Commander-in-Chief on 5 December 2006 and was promoted to
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
in 2011. After retiring from the military, he became a politician.
Early life and education
Laaneots was born on 16 January 1948 in
Kilingi-Nõmme
Kilingi-Nõmme is a town in Pärnu County, southwestern Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saarde Parish. It's located on the intersection of Valga– Uulu (Valga–Pärnu, nr 6) and Tartu–Viljandi–Kilingi-Nõmme (nr 92) roads, abou ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. In 1948 the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
arrested his father for being a
forest brother
The Guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans, called the Forest Brothers (also: the "Brothers of the Wood" and the "Forest Friars"; et, metsavennad, lv, me ...
. For that he was
deported to Siberia between 1949–1958. His mother died there in 1952. A year after finishing school, he worked as an assistant to a railway mechanic at
Pääsküla railway station.
In July 1966 he entered the
Higher Military School in
Kharkiv
Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.[Kiev Military District
The Kiev Military District (; , abbreviated ) was a military district of the Imperial Russian Army and subsequently of the Red Army and Soviet Armed Forces. It was first formed in 1862, and was headquartered in Kiev (Kyiv) for most of its exist ...]
.
He specialized in the
T-64
The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while ...
Tank.
Career
From 1970 to 1978, he served as a platoon leader, company commander, and battalion commander of the 300th Tank Regiment for the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
in Ukraine, mostly commanding fleets of
T-64
The T-64 is a Soviet tank manufactured in Kharkiv, and designed by Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau. The tank was introduced in the early 1960s. It was a more advanced counterpart to the T-62: the T-64 served in tank divisions, while ...
Tanks. From 1978 to 1981, Laaneots studied in the
() in Moscow for an armored brigade commander's course, and to qualify on the newly introduced
T-80
The T-80 is a main battle tank (MBT) that was designed and manufactured in the former Soviet Union and manufactured in Russia. The T-80 is based on the T-64, while incorporating features from the later T-72. The chief designer of the T-80 was So ...
Tank.. From 1981 to 1987, he was posted to the
Soviet-Chinese border Chinese Soviet or Soviet Chinese may refer to:
*Chinese Soviet Republic
*Sino-Soviet relations
*Individual Chinese people in the Soviet Union, or the soviets which represented them there; see:
**Dungan people
** Chinese people in Soviet Russia
*Lang ...
in Eastern
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
. During this assignment he served as the Executive Officer of the 96th Tank Regiment, two years as the Commander of the 180th Tank Regiment, and three years as the Deputy Commander-Chief of Staff of the 78th Armored Division.
From 1987 to 1989, he deployed to
Ethiopia
Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...
where he spent one year as the military advisor to the commander of an infantry division, and a year and a half as the military advisor to the commanding general of an army corps participating in combat activities. Before his resignation from the Soviet Army in September 1991, he served as the Chief of Regional Department of Defence,
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
in Estonia.
After 1991
Laaneots was one of the founding-officers of the Estonian Army, defecting from the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
after the August 1991 attempted coup in Moscow. After Estonia regained its independence in 1991, Laaneots served two times as the
Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff.
List
* Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States)
* Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia)
* Chief of General Staff (Afg ...
– from 1991 to 1994, and from 1997 to 1999. He was crucial in transforming the doctrine and tactics of the
Estonian Defence Forces
The Estonian Defence Forces ( et, Eesti Kaitsevägi) are the unified military forces of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Defence Forces consist of the Estonian Land Forces, the Estonian Navy, the Estonian Air Force, and the paramilitary Esto ...
from a Soviet mode to a NATO and
western
Western may refer to:
Places
*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
mode. From 1994 to 1996 he was in reserve (Director of the Security company AS ESS Lõuna). In 1997 Laaneots was appointed to the position of Inspector General of the Defence Forces. During his second tenure, in 1998, he graduated from the
NATO Defence College
NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy.
History
The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the f ...
in Rome, Italy.
In 1998, he was promoted to
kindralmajor (English:
Major general
Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...
). In 2000, after a year at the course in the
Finnish National Defence College, he was appointed the head of the
Baltic Defence Research Centre located in Estonia. From September 2001 through to December 2006, he was Commandant of the
Estonian National Defence College
The Estonian Military Academy ( et, Kaitseväe Akadeemia) is an institution of applied higher education for national defence in Tartu, Estonia.
The institutions mission is to train and educate regular officers for the Estonian Defence Forces ...
. Ants Laaneots was appointed the Commander of the Defence Forces on 5 December 2006. He stepped down as Commander of the Defence Forces on 5 December 2011 after his 5-year term ended.
Politics
As of 12 December 2011, he worked as
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Andrus Ansip
Andrus Ansip (; born 1 October 1956) is an Estonian politician, a member of the European Parliament, the former European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission, in office from 2014 until 2019. Previo ...
's advisor in matters of national defence. That job ended on 28 March 2014 at the end of Andrus Ansip's term in office. Laaneots joined the
Reform Party in late 2014. In the
2015 parliamentary election, Laaneots was elected to the parliament with 5,907 individual votes.
In 2016, after NATO soldiers in Estonia were targeted with racist insults by locals, Laaneots stated that Russians directed the vitriol in order to compromise the relationship between Estonia and the U.S.
Effective dates of promotion
Soviet Army
:''See
Military ranks of the Soviet Union
The military ranks of the Soviet Union were those introduced after the October Revolution of 1917. At that time the Imperial Russian Table of Ranks was abolished, as were the privileges of the pre-Soviet Russian nobility.
Immediately after the ...
''
Estonian Army
:''See
Military ranks of Estonia
Present Estonian system of rank insignia is a direct descendant of various systems used in the past in the Estonian Defence Forces. Some of the grades trace their name back to the period of World Wars, for instance, the rank of aspirant literally m ...
''
Awards, decorations, and recognition
Awards and decorations
Personal life
His main research interests include modern conflicts, conflicts involving small states/nations, development of national defence. Since 1999, he has 48 publications, among others 1 monograph, 3 academic papers published in international journals and 15 other academic papers.
In addition to the
Estonian language
Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...
, General Laaneots is fluent in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
,
Belarusian, and
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
. He is an active member of the Estonian National Defence League and the Rotary Club. He is married to a Ukrainian-Moldovan woman named Natalia and has a son and a daughter (and four grandchildren).
References
External links
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laaneots, Ants
1948 births
Living people
People from Kilingi-Nõmme
Estonian Reform Party politicians
Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019
Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023
Estonian generals
Soviet colonels
Recipients of the Order of the Red Star
Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class I
Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class II
Foreign recipients of the Legion of Merit
Commanders First Class of the Order of the Polar Star