European competitiveness will be discussed at a meeting Estonian Foreign Affairs Minister Margus Tsahkna

McEntee in Estonia to discuss Ukraine, security issues

by · RTE.ie

Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence Helen McEntee will visit the Estonian capital Tallinn for bilateral meetings with Estonian Foreign Affairs Minister Margus Tsahkna and a senior official from the country's ministry of defence.

They will discuss EU support for Ukraine, further sanctions against Russia and defence and security issues.

European competitiveness, a key priority for Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the next seven-year EU budget (2028-2034), will also be discussed during the meeting with Mr Tsahkna.

"Ireland and Estonia are like-minded on the key issues facing Europe, above all on supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression and on its journey towards membership of the European Union," Minister McEntee said ahead of the visit.

She will sign a joint letter of intent with Estonia on both countries working together to continue providing aid for education and health projects in Ukraine.

Minister McEntee will also meet the permanent secretary of Estonia's ministry of defence.

Last week, a defence procurement scandal in Estonia led to the resignation of defence minister Hanno Pevkur, who had served in the role since 2022.

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A state-run audit found that the country's defence ministry had awarded a €70m contract for producing ammunition shells for Ukraine to a firm that had no track record of producing shells.

Mr Pevkur, a firm supporter of military aid for Ukraine, said that he had not read the contracts but last week told Estonia's public news service ETV that he would resign as "a matter of political responsibility".

Later, Minister McEntee will travel to the Latvian capital Riga to meet Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braže.

Estonia and Latvia, both NATO members, have experienced a number of Ukrainian drone incursions in recent months, due to Russian electronic signal jamming which sends the drones off-course.

Last month, Italian fighter jets on a NATO patrol shot down a Ukrainian drone that has drifted into Latvian airspace from the borders with Russian and Belarus.

A similar course of action was taken by a NATO air patrol over Estonia in May.