First, Luxembourg hosts Estonia’s data embassy, the first ever of its kind, and we are very grateful for that. In very turbulent times, this is giving us a lot of security. Second, Luxembourg is home to a very active Estonian community; a lot of Estonians are living here whom you are taking good care of. Regarding digital cooperation, it is true that it is very good, but there are also points where we can do more. Of course, we are very happy to share our experience of online voting. As I always say, people are living their lives online and governments also should be there where the people are. And people should be able to do things online also when it comes to participation in democracy.
We’re also good partners in the EU and in NATO. I am very grateful to Luxembourg for your contribution to our collective security on NATO’s Eastern flank – most recently for your remarkable support for the renovation of Ämari Air Base that hosts the Baltic Air Policing mission.
We have similar challenges, because we are small countries. And one of those challenges but also an opportunity is the Single Market. We discussed how the Single Market could function better so that everybody would benefit from this, and especially small countries have a lot at stake in the Single Market functioning. The largest of our challenges lies in security. Russia’s full-scale war of aggression continues in the heart of Europe. In the Middle East, conflict has brought huge humanitarian costs and there’s a grave danger of escalation.
We can’t forget that Russia has enough capacity to cause harm on various fronts, be it across Europe or beyond. For example, its increased cooperation with Iran and North Korea, or its growing footprint in the Sahel which in turn increases migratory pressure on Europe.
I’m here today also because we discussed how we can continue supporting Ukraine, and what is at stake if we grow tired of helping Ukraine. The outcome of this war is existential not only for Eastern European countries, but for Europe and for the whole transatlantic community. We must not be afraid of spelling out Ukraine’s victory as our goal.
Together with Luxembourg we are giving a lot of military aid to Ukraine, we also co-lead the IT coalition to provide cyber assistance. We are helping them in various ways, and it is not only the battlefield success that decides the outcome of the war. We also must continue to weaken Russia’s war machine and strengthen sanctions. We just had the decision to adopt the 14th package of sanctions, but we cannot stop here. Already now, Ukraine’s needs are much bigger than they can get because they also need to rebuild the country. When you talk to Ukrainians, they say, that they also need hope. The hope they can get from the reconstruction of their country, showing that it is possible and good to live there. Sooner rather than later, it has to be Russia, and not our taxpayers, that pays for the damage Russia has caused. This is why Estonia recently passed a law, allowing to use frozen assets to the benefit of Ukraine.
Additional efforts and money are needed to also improve our own defence. We also discussed that. NATO's strength comes from the strength of NATO countries. I look forward to a discussion at tomorrow’s European Council meeting on how we can boost European defence readiness. In NATO we have to ensure that the new defence plans are also implemented in practice, which means that all the NATO countries have to invest more in defence.
Finally, we are seeing coordinated hybrid activities across Europe. We have to talk about this among ourselves, but also put a plan together on how we can really address these issues. Russia’s hybrid attacks against our countries – there are more and more attempts to destroy civilian infrastructure and sabotage facilities related to arms deliveries, but not only – there are also attempts at creating fear in our own societies – we must be aware of these things, treat these events in a connected way and not in isolation, and also have a common response to these events to put together the picture of what is at stake.
Thank you!
