On Monday, 12th of May 2008 the Baltic Defence College had the honor to welcome the President of the Republic of Estonia, H.E. Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves. The President and his delegation were welcomed at the foyer of the College by the BALTDEFCOL Commandant, BG Gundars Ảbols, and the BALTDEFCOL Chief of Staff, COL German Kesa.

Afterwards H.E. Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves delivered a lecture on "Small State Security" which was addressed to the Joint Command and General Staff Course, Civil Servants Course, and the staff of the College.

H.E. Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves talked about the need of military education to stay abreast of the developments in military affairs and addressed the goals of military education. H.E. Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves also discussed the need to keep the small countries international. In this regard the importance of receiving NATO accreditation for the BALTDEFCOL High Command Studies Course was also highlighted by the President during the lecture. The lecture culminated with an active round of questions and answers where the audience used the opportunity to engage the distinguished speaker in an open discussion.

The lecture was followed by a short meeting at the Commandant\'s Office where Commandant gave an overview of the BALTDEFCOL development and future challenges.