Kaljulaid and Mihkelson discussed support for Ukraine and EU security in Prague

The Chairman of the National Defence Committee Raimond Kaljulaid and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson have taken part in the EU Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy in Prague, Czechia, yesterday and today. Members of the EU national parliaments met in Prague to discuss supporting and rebuilding Ukraine, enhancing European security, and the best ways to develop political relations to promote the EU enlargement process.

The head of the Estonian delegation Raimond Kaljulaid gleaned from the exchanges a strong unity in supporting Ukraine but deplored a frequent lack of decisiveness and clarity of message. “The Ukrainians are not fighting only for themselves but for the freedom and peace of the whole Europe, where they see their future. Europe will be instrumental in supporting Ukraine after the war. But all this rests on the presumption that Ukraine wins the war; for this to happen, we must provide Ukraine urgent help in the form of weapons and exercises, and take much stronger steps in exerting pressure on Russia, which goes without saying. One of the first steps should be visa sanctions against the citizens of the Russian Federation. We would like to see more decisiveness and clearer messages,” Kaljulaid said.

In his speech, Marko Mihkelson described the EU policy on Russia so far as too responsive and adapting. “Today, Europe is facing an existential threat caused by the terrorist and fascist regime in Russia. For deflecting this and securing a strategic victory over the fascist Russia, it is important that the EU Member States act more proactively and with a clearer strategic goal in sight. Stopping the granting of tourist visas to Russian citizens and closing our borders to recreational travel by citizens of the aggressor state is a step that the EU should approve at the earliest opportunity. However, this is only one step towards a strategic goal – Ukraine’s victory and Russia’s defeat in the war they themselves started,” he said.

The participants of the conference also discussed ways to improve the cyber defence of democratic countries and their ability to fight against disinformation and hybrid threats, and explored the best ways for the EU national parliaments to contribute towards fending off hybrid threats.

The EU Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy is taking place in the framework of the Czech Presidency of the European Union, which started on 1 July and runs until the end of the year.

Source: Parliament of Estonia