“The changed security situation in Europe has clearly shown the need for greater defence investments and has also highlighted the current bottlenecks in the defence sector,” the prime minister stressed in her speech, which introduced the debate on the link between security and successful business.
According to Kallas, procurement and production processes in the defence industry are obsolete in their current form because they cannot adapt quickly enough to changes and real needs on the battlefields in Ukraine. “We are seeing how readily available technologies can prove fatal for military equipment costing millions. Cheap drones carrying warheads can deplete the reserves of even the more sophisticated defence systems,” the prime minister said.
“However, for defence companies to be able to create new solutions, they need the money and the infrastructure to do so,” said Kallas. As a positive example, the prime minister highlighted the recent decision of the Estonian government to create a defence industry fund with an initial size of 50 million euros. According to Kallas, it is important that the new fund will allow investments in purely defence technologies alongside dual-use technologies. She also confirmed that the government will develop a national defence industrial park and review legislation to support the production of arms and ammunition and cut the red tape.
According to Kallas, the security environment in Europe is not going to change in the near future, which is why countries need to make long-term investments in defence. “Europe must allocate billions of euros to strengthen its defences,” she stressed. “We continue to call on all European partners and the European Commission to find more robust and direct ways to finance defence investments.”
After her speech, Kallas participated in a panel alongside Markus Villig, co-founder and CEO of Bolt, and Gundbert Scherf, co-founder and CEO of a defence technology company. The discussion was moderated by Kadri Tammai, Head of the Tehnopol Startup Incubator.
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