Representatives of the EU national parliaments discussed European security and demographic trends

Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Peeter Tali spoke at the session dedicated to European security and defence. He underlined that due to the Russian war in Ukraine, Estonia deemed it necessary to rapidly enhance Europe’s defence readiness. “To achieve this, additional EU funding sources should be analysed with the goal of making at least 100 billion euros available before the start of the new EU long-term budget period in 2028. As one possible solution, we support the issuance of EU defence bonds in solidarity, to quickly reduce Europe’s strategic defence deficiencies,” Tali said. He pointed out that adopting new plans and new capability targets was not realistic without also ensuring adequate defence spending. “2% of the GDP is no longer enough and discussing a higher defence spending target are necessary,” Tali emphasised.

Member of the European Union Affairs Committee Riina Solman spoke at the session where the demographic concerns of Europe were discussed. She said she was glad that there were nations that had made families their top priority. “Hungary, who is hosting this meeting, is certainly one of these countries and a good example of family friendly initiatives. However, grim is the behaviour of the Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is talking a lot about demographics, talking about having more children – and he still finds it okay to shake hands with Putin! Putin, who is killing children and families in Europe, is deporting Ukrainian children to Russia against their own will,” Solman said. She emphasised that this was unacceptable. “Moreover, low birthrate is no longer only a European problem – most of the world has seen a steep decline in fertility in the recent years. If we are to solve the demographic downturn, we have to work together, share our knowledge and experience,” Solman noted in her speech.

COSAC is a cooperation format that brings together the Committees for Union Affairs of the national parliaments of the 27 Member States of the European Union.

Riigikogu Press Service
Gunnar Paal
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Link uudisele: Representatives of the EU national parliaments discussed European security and demographic trends

Source: Parliament of Estonia