Yesterday, Foreign Minister Sven Mikser met with the UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson in London. Mikser and Johnson reaffirmed good relations between Estonia and the UK and talked about the security situation in Europe.
“Defence cooperation between Estonia and the UK is a perfect example of cooperation between two allies that see the security situation and threats similarly,” Foreign Minister Mikser said. “We greatly appreciate the UK’s presence in our region both as the lead nation of the eFP battle group and as participant in the Baltic Air Policing Mission,” Mikser noted. The Foreign Minister added that in the context of defence cooperation, it is also important to place emphasis on strengthening cyber cooperation.
Speaking about the NATO Summit taking place in July, Mikser emphasised that it is important to move forward with decision made in Wales and Warsaw. “Estonia aims to enhance NATO collective defence and reinforce its deterrence posture at the Summit,” Mikser emphasised. Mikser also referred to fair burden-sharing and expressed hope that all NATO countries accelerate their activities to reach the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence.
Mikser and Johnson also discussed relations with Russia. Foreign Secretary Johnson thanked Estonia for its support after the Salisbury attack. “As long as Russia continues to undermine the security and stability of Europe and NATO and tries to discredit democratic societies, we are unable to move towards more open and constructive cooperation,” Mikser stressed. Mikser and Johnson agreed that in its relations with Russia, Europe must stay united and resolute.
In London, Foreign Minister Sven Mikser also met members of the House of Commons defence committee to discuss UK-Estonia defence cooperation and the upcoming NATO Summit.