“This government has two clear objectives: boosting the economy and strengthening our defence capabilities. Today, we made decisions that support both,” said Prime Minister Kristen Michal. “We will be able to take into use 200 million euros from EU funds for defence and security-related investments. These are funds from the Cohesion Policy that have not yet been allocated to any projects. 85 million of these funds will be channelled into military mobility, i.e. the construction of roads and railways. In simple terms, we will be using this European money to build Estonian roads and sections of Rail Baltica, which means that the subcontracting, materials, and labour will come from Estonia and the taxes will stay here, too.”
Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi noted that the redirection of funds to national defence at the EU level has made these investments possible. “These projects now need to be launched and implemented quickly. We still need to finalise the changes with the European Commission, but the meetings so far have created a great feeling that there is already a clear sense of our security concerns there, as well as of the fact that Estonia is on the border of the whole of Europe.”
Minister of Education and Research Kristina Kallas said that all sectors need to make a concerted effort and review their activities. “Our goal is for Estonia to be protected and for people to feel safe here. We will direct more resources to the development of defence research to increase the capacity for defence technology testing in Estonia and keep pace with global developments. This will contribute to strengthening our national defence as well as to boosting our economy.”
Minister of Defence Hanno Pevkur said that channelling EU funds into defence will help Estonia in several ways. “In times like these, we need to find every opportunity to bolster national defence across the board. Unused EU funds are a good opportunity to do this. For us, it is important to ensure the feasibility of NATO’s defence plans, and the Cohesion Fund will help to invest in national defence in different directions, such as in the construction of the base infrastructure of a defence industrial park.”
Estonia will be investing 200 million euros in five defence areas, the largest share of which – 84.8 million euros – will go to developing military mobility on roads and railways. The investments include, among other things, road construction on the Tallinn-Pärnu-Ikla and Tallinn-Tartu routes and the construction of infrastructure sections of Rail Baltica. The list of specific sites will be specified in negotiations with the European Commission.
The government will allocate 52 million euros for the construction of the basic infrastructure of a defence industrial park in Ermistu to create the conditions for the manufacturing of ammunition and other defence products. This will include access roads, electricity and water connections, fences, and storage facilities – everything needed to get the industry up and running. It is an investment that will bring more businesses, industry, and jobs to Estonia and will have a clear economic impact.
24.5 million euros will be used to build the infrastructure needed to host allies and support the Estonian Defence Forces.
23.8 million euros will be invested to support product development by defence companies. Its aim is to increase the competitiveness of the Estonian defence industry and encourage the development of innovative products with high added value.
The government will invest 14.9 million euros in research and development to strengthen defence technology testing capabilities and develop artificial intelligence applications for broad-based national defence.
Proposals will be submitted to the European Commission for negotiation, with activities expected to start in 2026.
