Foreign Affairs Council (Defence): Press remarks by High Representative Kaja Kallas upon arrival
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Good afternoon, everybody,
We have the Defence Ministers’ meeting coming up, and there is a lot to discuss.
First, of course, we have the new Defence Minister Fedorov, of Ukraine, who is known for its defence innovation. He is participating in the meeting. What is important is to know that Russia is not winning this war, the casualty rates are surging, their economy is not doing well. Of course, we are discussing what more can we do in order to help them, but there is also a lot we have to learn from them, when it comes to defence innovation, and how to ramp up our defence spending really fast.
Then, we are also discussing our contribution to the security guarantees. We have been discussing the training of the Ukrainian soldiers, also on the soil of Ukraine. We have identified two training centres that could be used for that purpose.
Then, financing is still an issue. First, I want to also thank the European Parliament for this swift approval of the €90 billion loan. There, the urgent priorities of Ukraine are important and also the flexibility of using these funds is important.
But in addition to that, we also need private capital, and for that, we have two proposals for the European Investment Bank. First is to earmark some of the funds for the production in Ukraine. And also, the other part is to define the production of dual-use goods the same way as it is for the European companies, because it is narrower currently for Ukraine.
After, we will have a discussion on the outlook of 2026. And there, of course, we will discuss also the new European Security Strategy and what Member States want to see there.
Thank you.
Q&A
Q. NATO agreed on the Arctic Sentry Mission today. What role can you play on this matter?
European countries are also part of NATO. That is very clear. We, in the European Union, are also developing our own new Arctic Strategy. What is different from the previous one is that previous one addresses the climate issues, the research issues, fisheries and environment, but it did not address the security issues. So, we are definitely contributing to that. But I was just recently in the Arctic, and I think it is also important that we remain vigilant, but do not draw our attention away from where the threats currently are the acutest, which is of course in Ukraine.
Q. The focus does seem to be on the Arctic rather than on Ukraine.
I think it is important that we have recognised what kind of risks the Arctic also entails, considering climate change and the security aspects there. But when I was in the Arctic, [inaudible] the risks depend on how the war in Ukraine goes. That is why the focus there was where the threats are the hottest, which is Russia’s attacks on Ukraine every day.
Q. About the situation that you are mentioning, these big loans for Ukraine. Your priority is to spend for European companies, military purchases, but NATO is pushing more for opening for US [inaudible] to participate companies. [inaudible] relationship with NATO, you said you have to look at what NATO needs.
We have very good relations with NATO, and we have really coordinated our steps so that we do not duplicate them in any way. NATO has capability targets, but Member States need to fulfil those capability targets, and that means the industry needs to also align with this. Now, using the €90 billion loan, there, the flexibility is very important, and that is why we have built in a sort of cascade method. If European companies or Ukrainian companies are not able to provide the capabilities that Ukraine needs, or produce them right now, then the money goes outside. I think it is also up to push for competition inside the European defence industry to move faster because otherwise you will just lose the money.
Q. Can you please tell us, can Moldova count on European support on the basis of the action plan for drone security? And on a practical level, how can this happen?
Moldova is one of our priority countries, because Moldova is also a candidate country, and the security of Europe is very much intertwined with the security of Ukraine as well as Moldova. And that is why we are trying in all our projects to count the candidate countries in and consider also their security risks. We have used the EPF, the Peace Facility funds to help Moldova address the security concerns. We also had good projects on countering FIMI that other candidate countries want us to use. So, there is a lot we can do together, because, like I said, the security of Moldova is equally important to us.
Q. Today you will be discussing also the [situation in the] Middle East, especially in Syria, as right now more than 10,000 members of the ISIS are in jail, some of them are originally from Europe; Belgium, France, Germany. So, can you tell me if Europe is ready to take them back?
The issue of the ISIS camps is really our worry, as well. But today, with the Defence Ministers, we do not really plan to discuss unless somebody raises this, because it is not one of the topics. But with the Foreign Ministers, we really discuss this, the situation in northern Syria, and we also discuss this with the regional actors. I was in contact with the Iraqi Foreign Minister, because clearly, what is moving to their direction and the questions you pose, are also the questions that they pose to our countries.
Q . Port of [inaudible] which is located in Georgia is part of the sanctions of the 20th package because it means that Georgia is helping Russia to circumvent the sanctions?
The work on the 20th package is still ongoing. We have put a lot of proposals on the table, and I also expect to have the discussions on the G7 regarding the maritime services ban, for example. So, I will not comment on the specific proposals, because, unless everything is agreed, nothing is agreed.
Q. On President Zelenskyy organising elections in Ukraine soon – how long can you [inaudible]?
The majority of the European countries have in their constitution, a provision that elections are not held during war. And why? Because, if you have elections, it is always fighting inside between different factions, and when you have outside attacks, literally, then you just cannot hold elections because your adversary is outside, and you need to concentrate all the efforts to counter that. That is why I think, having elections while the war is still going on is definitely not a good solution. Maybe, the hope is there that there is going to be peace, but at the same time, I do not see Russians really making any efforts to have peace right now.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/media/video/I-284808