Kutse

2 April 2026 Lieutenant General Andrus Merilo Commander Estonian Defence Forces Estonia

Dear Lieutenant General Merilo, I am delighted to invite you to take part in the third annual International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Prague Defence Summit, which the IISS will host in the Czech Republic from Wednesday 16 September to Friday 18 September 2026. Supported by the government of the Czech Republic, the IISS will again assemble over 250 government leaders, defence officials, senior industry representatives, analysts and media from the transatlantic community and beyond to discuss challenges and opportunities for European defence-capability development. The summit aims to translate wider policy goals into a specific implementation agenda focused on defence innovation, procurement and building the capabilities required to defend Europe. As you will see from the attached agenda, discussion at this year’s summit will focus on the evolving transatlantic and European procurement landscape, the future of NATO’s land forces, military mobilisation and logistics challenges, the sustainability of European defence spending, deep-precision- strike architectures, and European space capabilities. Your presence and active participation would contribute immensely to the success of this important defence summit. I look forward to your acceptance of this invitation and to welcoming you to the third IISS Prague Defence Summit. Yours sincerely,

Dr Bastian Giegerich Director-General and Chief Executive, IISS RSVP: [email protected]