Ms. Kadri Peeters was appointed as the Undersecretary for Defence Capability at the Estonian Ministry of Defence on 12 May 2025. She is responsible for departments covering defence planning, readiness, and the defence budget, ensuring strategic planning, national and NATO capability development, crisis preparedness, and effective resource management.
Ms. Peeters began her career at the Estonian Ministry of Defence in 2005, where she was responsible for multilateral defence cooperation and policy-making with regard to Baltic States, the U.S. NATO and the E.U. In 2008, Ms. Peeters joined the Latvian Ministry of Defence through a Civil servant exchange program for six months, and from 2012-2014 served as a staff officer at NATO’s International Staff in the Defence Policy and Planning Directorate. From 2014 to 2017, she was National Security Advisor to the Estonian Prime Minister, followed by her posting as Defence Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (2017-2021). Ms. Peeters then worked at the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service (2021-2023) and most recently as Deputy Director of National Security and Defence
Coordination at the Government Office of Estonia (2023-2025).
Ms. Peeters is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College, where she received a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Studies in 2024. She also holds dual degrees in Public Administration and Scandinavian Studies from the University of Tartu, obtained in 2004. Ms. Peeters completed the Reserve Officers Course at Võru Battle School in 2009.
Ms. Peeters has been awarded with the Silver (2009), Golden (2016) Badges and the 3rd class of the Cross of Merit (2021) of the Estonian Ministry of Defence as well as the Service Cross with the Golden Medal of the Estonian Police (2017).