In her meeting with Speaker Johnson and other members of the Congress, Prime Minister Kallas highlighted the leading role of the United States in helping Ukraine. “U.S. assistance to Ukraine has been significant. However, Estonia and Europe are also doing their part,” said Kallas. “Estonia provided Ukraine with arms aid even before the full-scale war started. Estonia’s military aid to Ukraine so far is more than 1% of our GDP. Other European countries are also supporting Ukraine. The European Union is also the main provider of training for Ukrainian soldiers. Six million Ukrainian refugees have found asylum in the EU,” she added.
At the same time, the prime minister noted that in today’s security situation, Europe as a whole must be able to significantly increase its defence capabilities. “Estonia will spend more than 3% of the GDP on defence next year, but other European allies will also have to increase their defence spending,” Kallas said.
The prime minister expressed her gratitude to the United States of America for its military presence and support for the Baltic security Initiative during meetings in the Congress. “The enshrinement of the Baltic Security Initiative in U.S. legislation is significant. The financing of the defence capabilities of the Baltic States has allowed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to strengthen their independent defence capabilities faster than planned. I expressed hope that the support of the current U.S. Congress for the Baltic States will continue under the leadership of Speaker Johnson.”
