Questioned on the occasion of the Lennart Meri conference on security and defence, organized from 12 to 14 May in Tallinn (Estonia), Kaja Kallas, the Estonian Prime Minister, recalled her support for Ukraine, the need to prepare its accession to the European Union and to offer it a path towards NATO, at the end of the war.
On February 9, you asked that Europe order and transfer one million munitions to Ukraine. A few months later, do you feel like you’ve been heard?
Between our request and the announcements in March, then in May, by the Commission, barely a few weeks have passed. This is proof that the Union, when it wants to, can be very quick. Now remains the implementation. So far, of this million artillery shells, only 45,000 have been transferred to Ukraine. Estonia took the decision to send its ammunition. I hope other countries will do the same. Production must at the same time accelerate. The execution of our ammunition plan is of the utmost importance.
With the war in Ukraine, do you have the feeling of a change of dynamic between the States of the European Union?
There is one thing that Putin did not achieve, and that he succeeded in achieving, and that is to unite us. Putin does not believe in multilateralism and we have proven that multilateralism can work. In fact, the war in Ukraine will end when Russia realizes that it was a mistake, that it cannot win it. Until this is the case, we will support Ukraine.
Is the example of the purchase of ammunition the sign that within the Twenty-Seven the center of gravity of the Union is moving towards the East?
I don’t feel it like that. It is rather that now, everyone is listened to. In Europe, everyone brings something to the common table and the spirit of compromise is permanent to move forward. The big countries, often old democracies like France and Germany, come with their experience, their ways of doing things. We come with our freshness. You know, the only speech I gave in French was: “How to think like a start-up? “. It was about our mentality, which leads us to think outside the box. Having said that, while we have been members of the Union for almost twenty years, I have the feeling that for the first time this year, we are truly considered as equals at the board table. It means a lot to us.
You have 61.31% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.