Today 29 April, Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets was in Riga to meet with her Baltic and Polish counterparts and discuss the upcoming ministerial meeting of NATO in Berlin, objectives at the Madrid summit, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Liimets underlined that since the security situation had changed in the whole world, it was crucial for the impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine and the accompanying threats to be reflected in NATO’s new Strategic Concept. “Today, my Baltic and Polish colleagues and I discussed how to make quick progress with reinforcing NATO’s Eastern Flank because we need a greater NATO land, sky and sea presence to ensure our security, while not forgetting cyberspace,” the foreign minister said.
Liimets highlighted that adapting to the new reality, Estonia for the first time decided to raise its defence spending to an average 2.5 per cent of its GDP in the next four years. “To achieve energy independence, Estonia is stopping imports of Russian gas this year and with the supplementary budget, we are accelerating our investments into renewable energy solutions.
Estonia is also standing up for more wide-ranging restrictions on Russia’s oil and gas imports with the next EU sanctions package because as buyers, we can have a direct impact on how Russia’s war is financed and on their extortionate steps against member states that we have witnessed recently,“ Liimets said.
Speaking about the upcoming Madrid summit, the foreign minister said Estonia considered it crucial to reiterate support for the open door policy, deepening EU and NATO cooperation and developing new technologies.
At today’s meeting, the foreign ministers also reaffirmed their continued strong support to Ukraine to help the country win the war. “Ukraine needs quick assistance, mainly modern weaponry, to reinforce their defence capabilities and restore their sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said.
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