Estonian military personnel have been taking part in a NATO Multinational exercise, aimed at rehearsing the wider defense of the region. The exercise, dubbed Griffin Lightning, involves NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast, addresses both various hybrid threats as well as a direct military threat. Maj. Gen. Indrek Sirel, commander of the Estonian Defense Forces (EDF) component – which consists of the main command post – noted COVID-19 considerations led to a major scaling down of Estonia's original plans, adding that the exercise had nevertheless proved useful. Maj. Gen. Sirel said: "Training exercises like this are an opportunity for us to rehearse skills of critical importance – control and ensuring of situation awareness in collaboration with allies."