In her speech, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas stressed that Europe is facing a critical moment in its history. “Russia has brought full-scale genocidal war back to European soil. This is a threat we cannot ignore. Europe needs to take bold decisions to remain geopolitically credible and help Ukraine win. We should all listen to President Macron’s important warning from last week that our Europe is mortal and whether it dies depends only on our own choices,” Kallas said.
In addition to supporting Ukraine in every way possible, we must decisively raise the defence capabilities of Europe. “In Europe, we all need to contribute more to our defence budgets. We have understood the need to better develop the European defence industry, but we are currently in a situation where governments would like to see more initiative from the industry and companies would like to see orders from the state,” Kallas explained. “The EU needs to dedicate a higher share of its own 7-year budget to defence. The current level, 0.86%, is simply not enough. I have also proposed defence bonds as a possible idea to increase the defence capacity of Europe. We are open to other solutions, as long as we find them quickly,” she added.
In her speech, Kallas also pointed out that our Europe is something that will never be finished. “Europe is an unfinished project as long as there are nations that share our heritage, believe in the rule of law and democracy, and want to be part of our Union. For sustainable peace in Europe, we need to end the grey zones of security in Europe,” said Kallas.
The prime minister recalled that this week marked the 20th anniversary of Estonia’s accession to the European Union. “To me, it is a reminder that the European project has always been about making the seemingly unimaginable possible – like seeing the rubble of the Second World War and building prosperity and cooperation out of it. And it also visualises the goal – that one day soon we will wake up in the EU that counts Ukraine, Moldova and other candidate countries among its members,” Kallas said. The prime minister added that EU enlargement is, first and foremost, a political decision. “It is about whether Europe is serious about being a geopolitical actor and whether Europe can deliver on its promises. When countries have done their homework, they also deserve to progress on their path to the EU.”
Prime Minister Kallas is also scheduled to meet French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal today.
Kallas will also speak at a debate on European security issues organised by the French newspaper Libération at the Sorbonne University.
Full text of the speech of the prime minister:https://valitsus.ee/en/news/address-prime-minister-kaja-kallas-paris
Photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stenbockimaja/albums/72177720316671361
