Estonian firm’s takeover by Emirati group tests joint EU defense rules

Published on March 28, 2023

When the United Arab Emirates-based EDGE Group, a defense conglomerate, acquired a majority stake in Estonia-based Milrem Robotics, alarm bells went off in Europe. The European Union, which supports Milrem with subsidies, has a standing rule that all defense technology research under its umbrella is kept within European hands.

Under the EU’s rules, it is permissible for a foreign project host to give specific ‘guarantees’ to Brussels related to the bloc’s security interests. Milrem has signaled already that it is willing to work with the EU in this context. New foreign direct investment (FDI) laws are incidentally being considered by the EU Commission for defense.

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