Hussar attends meeting of Speakers of NATO member countries
President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Lauri Hussar will be in Vilnius, Lithuania, until Saturday to meet with the heads of state of Lithuania and attend the high level meeting of Speakers of parliaments of NATO member countries, where strengthening of security and further support to Ukraine will be discussed in preparation for the NATO Summit in July.
Hussar said that Estonia’s priority was to ensure firm support for Ukraine at the NATO Summit, which includes taking a step forward on the issue of Ukraine’s NATO membership. “In order to ensure peace in Europe, Ukraine must become a member of both the European Union and NATO. As the plenary of the Riigikogu underlined in its recent Statement, we expect the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July to issue an invitation to Ukraine to join the Alliance and to formulate concrete actions that would enable the country to integrate quickly into NATO,” he added.
Hussar pointed out that in addition to political support, Ukraine needed constant economic and military aid from its allies. “At the same time, we need to continue raising the cost of aggression for Russia through the imposition and implementation of sanctions as well as using of Russia’s frozen assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction. We also support the establishing of a special international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” Hussar said.
The meeting of NATO Speakers begins on Friday with a debate on global challenges and the future of NATO. Increasing defence spending and investments of NATO countries, strengthening deterrence and defence posture, and plans for long-term support for Ukraine will also be discussed. On Saturday, the Speakers will visit the General Silvestras Žukauskas Training Area in Pabradė.
In Vilnius, Hussar will meet with President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and his Lithuanian counterpart Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen to discuss the security situation of the region and the relations between the two countries, as well as supporting Ukraine and cooperation in implementing regional infrastructure projects.
Within the framework of the meeting of Speakers, Hussar will also have bilateral meetings with Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Ruslan Stefanchuk and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons of the UK Rosie Winterton. The President of the Riigikogu will also meet with the representatives of the Estonian community in Vilnius.
Hussar is accompanied on the visit by Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson and Chairman of the Estonia-Lithuania Parliamentary Friendship Group, Deputy Head of the Estonian delegation to the Baltic Assembly Enn Eesmaa.
Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
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