Estonian Prime Minister Kristen Michal met with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Tallinn on Tuesday. They jointly acknowledged the continuation of the two countries’ defence cooperation in protecting NATO’s eastern border, assisting Ukraine, and recognised the great potential to expand cooperation in the defence industry.
According to Kristen Michal, the UK is Estonia’s largest military cooperation partner, and cooperation must be expanded in the defence industry. “Estonia has taken the goal of developing its domestic defence industry in order to strengthen both its defence capability and also help Ukraine in its war against Russia. Our high-tech defence industry companies have great potential to cooperate with British companies and, hopefully, we can expect good news soon,” he said.
They also discussed strengthening sanctions against Russia. “Vessels belonging to the Russian shadow fleet are used to evade sanctions. Our common task is to restrict the movement of these ships, which will also weaken Putin’s war machine,” added the Prime Minister of Estonia.
Kristen Michal pointed out that there is untapped potential in the relations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. “Estonia looks forward to strengthening EU-UK relations and pragmatic cooperation to ensure European security and support a rules-based international order. Together, we can also strengthen the cooperation between the EU and NATO. We also have similar goals in the transition to green energy,” he added.
Kristen Michal and Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the JEF (Joint Expeditionary Force) security summit. The JEF is a UK-led defence cooperation format that includes Estonia, the Netherlands, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Iceland. The association is formed by like-minded countries that are ready to contribute quickly and flexibly to various operations, from humanitarian crises to conventional warfare. Crisis response measures developed within the framework of the JEF complement NATO activities.
See photos of the meeting on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stenbockimaja/albums/72177720322616885 opens in a new tab
Source: Government of Estonia