Stoicescu said that the increase in defence spending and investments in the EU Member States should be much more prominent. Among other things, the production capacities of the defence industry need to be increased significantly to strengthen European security. He would like to see the Western countries be more united in their decisions and actions.<\/p>\n
\u201cRussia is and remains a permanent threat for us. This is why we need to ensure that we have sufficient reserves and that we could also support Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, even during a longer period, if needed.\u201d Stoicescu added that the European Union needed to fulfil its pledge to donate one million artillery shells to Ukraine as soon as possible. This was a decision made at Estonia\u2019s initiative which was adopted in spring by the European Council.<\/p>\n
Mihkelson said that investments into defence but also consistent foreign policy are paramount in the current security situation. He does not see a possibility for restoring permanent peace in Europe before Ukraine has won Russia\u2019s war of choice.<\/p>\n
\u201cUkraine needs our active help and support until it has achieved victory, Russia has been defeated strategically and has withdrawn its troops from the Ukrainian territory, and the perpetrators of the crime of aggression, starting with Russia\u2019s political leadership, have been prosecuted,\u201d Mihkelson said. In addition to establishing an international special tribunal, we need to continue raising the price of aggression for Russia through sanctions and other restrictive measures.<\/p>\n
The participants of the Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Madrid are discussing the priorities, challenges, and developments of the EU foreign and security policy as well as the security and defence policy, Russia\u2019s aggression in Ukraine and its consequences, and strengthening European security. The Conference is part of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which runs from July 1 until the end of this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, the Chairman of the Riigikogu National Defence Committee Kalev Stoicescu and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson are taking part at the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Common Security and Defence Policy, which focuses on strengthening European security and on Russia\u2019s war of aggression in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":39871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,50],"tags":[],"news_related_unit":[107,105],"news_expired_unit":[],"class_list":["post-50049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-komisjonide-teated","category-pressiteated","news_related_unit-valiskomisjon","news_related_unit-riigikaitsekomisjon"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n