Kaja Kallas is visiting France this Friday, May 3. The Prime Minister of Estonia meets French President Emmanuel Macron to talk about Europe one month before the European elections. The Estonian leader gave an interview to RFI.
3 mins
RFI: What did you think of Emmanuel Macron’s speech on Europe at the Sorbonne last week?
Kaja Kallas: I think that President Macron has done a very, very good speech. And it is true that Europe is mortal and that it depends on us whether it lives or dies. And I think that it depends on the efforts that we are prepared to make to preserve the European project. For me, Europe has always been synonymous with hope, the future, cooperation, unity, making the impossible possible.
Populists and nationalists will win seats in the next European elections. Is this a failure on your part and that of its European partners?
I do not think so. But it’s true that we must speak to people’s hearts and not just their heads. THE populists gain ground saying that there are simple solutions for very complex problems. This is not true. We cannot have simple answers for complicated problems. We can only solve these problems together.
Read alsoKaja Kallas, the “iron lady” of the Baltic countries against Russia
Estonia is threatened by its Russian neighbor. Has your country been the victim of several attacks in recent weeks?
We can clearly see the shadow war waged by the Russia against all of us. It has also been seen in France, Germany, Finland, and other European countries. They use several methods. The war on the Internet is permanent. There are constant cyberattacks against our online government services, but we have created a good barrier and they cannot get through most of the time. There is also the war of disinformation and it is becoming more and more frequent because the elections are coming and Russia is really hoping to influence the elections.
Western weapons requested by Ukrainian President Zelensky are slow to arrive while Russian forces advance. Do you recognize that Europe is not moving fast enough?
Yes, I think we need to do more to help theUkraine to defend themselves. They need us for air defense and munitions. We must therefore work to help them as much as we can. The other way forward is to have our own defense capability in Europe. We must invest more in our defense, boost our defense industry. Because if we don’t do that, our weakness will encourage the attacker to act.
Read alsoBaltic countries face growing threats from Russia
The shadow of Russia currently hanging over Georgia. Protests continue against the controversial “foreign influence” bill. As a former member of the USSR and 20 years after your country joined the European Union, what message do you want to send to Georgians?
A future in Europe is much better than a future with Russia, they understood that very clearly. Now the question is whether the Georgian government also understood that. I think Georgians are saying loud and clear what they want and the government should listen to them.