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Foreign Minister Tsahkna in Munich: Europe needs to get into the driver's seat

Republic of Estonia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

17.02.2025

Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, who is attending the Munich Security Conference from 14 to 16 February, said that we must realise that the relations between Europe and the United States of America would be different compared to what they have been so far, and to manage this new reality, we need a confident and strong Europe, because this will preserve a strong transatlantic relationship.

"Europe should grow its confidence, take responsibility for becoming stronger, and if Europe is strong, so is the transatlantic alliance," Tsahkna said. "The time when we assumed someone else would ensure our security is over. Europe must get off the backseat and get behind the wheel."

Tsahkna emphasised the need to reinforce Europe's defence capabilities as quickly as possible, and said that this is why the announcement by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen on easing the European Union's budget rules to allow for increased defence spending was timely. "This is the development Europe and Estonia need to increase defence spending," Tsahkna noted.

Speaking about Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Tsahkna underlined that Russia was not in a strong position at the moment, its economy is in a bad state and despite enlisting the help of North Korean soldiers, Ukraine is still holding areas in the Kursk Oblast.

"Now is not the time to rush to the negotiating table; instead, we must ramp up the pressure on Russia to force it to completely give up its aims, which are the root cause of the aggression, that is, to destroy Ukraine and restructure the security architecture of Europe," the foreign minister said. "Only then is it possible to achieve lasting peace in Europe."

Tsahkna said it was also clear that it was impossible to take any decisions on the future of Ukraine without Ukraine or Europe.

He noted that President Zelenskyy was right when he said in his speech today that we must end the situation where Putin seems to be the most influential NATO member.

"We cannot allow Putin to make decisions on the future of NATO; these decisions must be taken only by NATO Allies alone," Tsahkna said.

On the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers (NNB8) met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha; and there were also bilateral meetings with the Foreign Minister of Egypt Badr Abdelatty, Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric and Foreign Minister of Costa Rica André Tinoco Arnoldo. Tsahkna also met with Bill Browder and Ted Deuch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee. Additionally, the minister took part in several panels on Russia's aggression and European security.

Tomorrow, the foreign ministers of the European Union will hold an informal meeting.