Prime Minister Kallas stated that the free world must maintain focus on supporting Ukraine and ensuring that Ukraine is provided aid to a sufficient extent in order to win the war. “I acknowledged the Prime Minister of Norway for the decision to give aid to Ukraine in the amount of 6.8 billion euros within 5 years – this sets an example for all of us,” Kallas said.
“Russians have understood that quantity of resources is quality. But we are quite capable of defeating them also in numbers. The combined defence budgets of the Ramstein coalition are more than 13 times greater than Russia’s heavily inflated one. But all of us must do even more to help Ukraine win. Our focus must be on arms, ammunition, and training,” Kallas emphasised.
After the meeting, the prime minister of Estonia outlined that EU’s commitment to provide Ukraine with 1 million rounds of ammunition is also crucial as a catalyst for European defence industry. “During the next four years, Estonia intends to acquire ammunition in the amount of almost 30% of our defence budget. The establishment of an industrial park dedicated to ammunition production is underway. I have also invited Norway to consider joining the initiative,” Kallas said.
Regional security, migratory pressure on the external borders of NATO caused by Russia, and the protection of essential unions were also discussed at the meeting. “Both Estonia and Norway have borders with Russia. I provided an overview of the situation on our Eastern border and assured that Estonia is ready to respond if necessary,” Kallas told.
The prime ministers also discussed cyber defence cooperation. “Today, in addition to physical damage, the critical infrastructure is threatened by risks from the cyberspace. If the bad guys are exchanging information, the good guys should do the same,” Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.
One of the central themes of the visit by the Prime Minister of Norway is cooperation in the fields of renewable energy and greentech. Analysis by scientists from both countries was presented in Tallinn today, an initiative that became a reality as a result of Prime Minister Kallas’s visit to Oslo. The report maps out opportunities for taking energy cooperation between Estonia and Norway to the next level. “My government’s priority is to create a favorable environment for the development of renewable energy. I am very glad that Norwegian companies are interested in being part of it,” told Kallas.
In the afternoon, the prime minister of Norway and Kristen Michal, Minister of Climate, opened a roundtable on the topic of offshore wind power. Parties of the development of Estonian offshore wind farms and Norwegian offshore wind cluster participated in the roundtable.
“Norway has been a friend and a supporter of Estonia throughout history. Estonia has set an ambitious climate goal of switching to 100% renewable electricity by 2030, renovating a large number of our residential buildings and developing connections and infrastructure,” said Minister Michal. “I hope that investments based on our climate policy have a role in improving the livelihood of our people and Norwegian companies have the opportunity to compete on our market.”
Representatives of Norwegian companies NORWEP, Mainstream Renewable Power, Vårgrønn, Kongsberg Discovery, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, DNV, ABB, Statnett, Tschudi Shipping Company, Reach Subsea, and Tampnet participated in the discussion. Estonian companies were represented by BLRT, Sunly, Saare Wind Energy, Utilitas, Eesti Energia, Enefit Green, Estonian Wind Power Association, and Elering. Representative of the company operating in the three Baltic countries and Poland, Ignitis Renewables, also participated in the meeting.
The study dedicated to the cooperation between Estonia and Norway, “Visionary Report on Estonian-Norwegian Cooperation in Renewable Energy and Green Transition”, is available on the website of Norwegian Embassy from Monday, 27 November: https://www.norway.no/estonia
Remarks by Kaja Kallas at the joint press conference of prime ministers of Estonia and Norway in English: https://www.valitsus.ee/en/news/remarks-prime-minister-kaja-kallas-press-conference-prime-minister-norway-jonas-gahr-store
Photos: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjB4pvA
