Dear Sanna, journalists,
I am delighted to welcome you, dear Sanna, here in Tallinn. Of course, I would be even more delighted if the security situation in Europe were different. But a situation that has changed beyond all recognition is something that gets friends and neighbours working even more closely together. The neighbour we both live alongside, Russia, is no longer merely difficult to deal with, but has become a pariah state, and in this new reality we must be prepared to guarantee the security of our region.
Estonia, like Finland, has strong defensive capabilities based on military service and reserves. Estonia’s abilities are also reinforced by the collective defence of NATO. We must work together even more in this new situation to improve the security of both our countries. Here in Estonia we are following the NATO debate in Finland very closely. Allow me to say that Finland has no greater friend in NATO than Estonia. Should you decide to sign up to the alliance, Estonia will ratify Finland’s accession to the Washington Treaty before the ink is even dry.
Russia’s massive attack against Ukraine has changed the world and our understanding of the way it works. The suffering we are seeing little more than a thousand kilometres from us is shocking. It is civilians who are at the frontline of Putin’s war: large cities are being besieged and their residents are being prevented from evacuating safely. This has led to a humanitarian catastrophe. We are seeing the same tactics the Kremlin used in Grozny and Aleppo.
Living in the immediate surroundings of Russia demands rapid adaptation. Our priority must be to continue to support Ukraine. At the same time, we must continue to stop the advance of the aggressor and his war machine. This means that not only Russia, but also its accomplice Belarus, must be isolated from the free world – both politically and economically.
The decisions that have been taken so far in the European Union for the political, military and economic isolation of Russia have been history-making. It is worth noting that it is not only governments that have been the driving force here: an enormous number of companies and sports and cultural organisations have taken the decision to suspend relations with Russia and withdraw from the country.
We must continue supporting the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their leaders, and their fight for freedom, in every way possible. In this incredibly difficult situation we must give them our support and hope – in the form of clear prospects regarding their accession to the European Union. That, today, is our moral obligation. I am very pleased that the European Parliament has now also called for Ukraine to be awarded candidate country status.
What the Ukrainians are most in need of today is military support, in order to be able to defend themselves against the aggressor. Around 30 countries – an historical number – have made the weighty decision to provide Ukraine with military assistance for defensive purposes. I am gratified that Finland is one of those countries. The longer the war goes on, the greater the need the Ukrainians will have for such help.
All of this necessarily affects the lives of Estonian people and our country’s economy. We must be prepared for lengthy opposition, and accept that hard times lie ahead for us as well. But that is the price we must pay in the fight for freedom and democracy.
I feel it is important to reiterate that Estonia is well defended. Our own defensive capabilities are strong. We are also a member of NATO, which means a defensive force dozens of time larger than the resources Putin has at his disposal stands behind us. An attack on Estonia would mean an attack on the United States, on the United Kingdom, on France, on all of our allies. However, the altered security situation demands greater investment and more rapid responses in our defence. We must adapt to the new reality as quickly as possible. The presence of allied forces in our region must become permanent.
Energy-related cooperation is important here, too. Our aim must be to work together to reduce Europe’s energy dependency. There is a lot we can do together in our region to achieve this: we can invest more in renewable energy, for example by fully developing the Baltic Sea maritime network as soon as possible and erecting wind farms in order to keep prices down for consumers and guarantee energy security. I hope we are able to move swiftly ahead with the Estlink 3 project, bringing it to completion by 2030 at the latest. We also want to quickly enter into a solidarity agreement in regard to gas, so that we are ready to help one another should Russian gas no longer reach or no longer reach enough our market.
In looking to the future we must also address other areas, not just energy and defence. Cooperation between democratic countries must grow even closer. The recently completed “3rd Report on Future Cooperation between Estonia and Finland” is all the more timely under the circumstances. I would like to thank its authors, Jaak Aaviksoo and Anne-Mari Virolainen, for the enormous amount of thought they put into it, for their broad-mindedness and for the long-term view they adopted. Digital cooperation and the green transition are areas in which Estonia and Finland can join forces and be leaders. A shared start-up centre and cooperation in the field of education are just two examples.
Life on the frontline of the free world demands swift, bold decision-making and close cooperation. It is in working together that we are strong. I hope we will soon be able to continue our discussions, including on the implementation of the cooperation report, in Finland, this time along with our ministers.
Thank you very much!
