According to Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, NATO must develop long-term solutions to ensure our defence in a changed security environment. “Russia’s attack on Ukraine made it clear that the current means are not sufficient to deter Russia and we must prepare for Russia putting NATO’s readiness to the test. Therefore, we need to move from the forward presence to forward defence,” said the prime minister. “In order to defend Estonia, we need a combat-ready NATO division consisting of Estonia’s own and allied units and a command structure. We also need stronger air defence. The first task of defence readiness is to prevent a war and immediately hold off any attempted attacks where needed,” explained Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
The heads of state and government who attended the summit agreed that NATO member states must provide more support to Ukraine. “We have to focus more on what we do, rather than what we will not do. We must continue to support Ukraine by sending weapons and matériel in order to cripple Putin’s war machine,” said the prime minister in Brussels. To date, Estonia has provided more than 220 million euros worth of military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Strengthening the defence capabilities of the Allies was also discussed. “The government has decided to make an extraordinary investment in increasing our defence capability, and soon our defence budget will be 2.5% of GDP. It is crucial that all allies invest in their defence capability in the near future and the agreed 2% must be a minimum requirement. We are only as strong as our weakest link,” Kaja Kallas noted.
The next NATO summit will take place this summer in Madrid.
