Estonian formin calls on Turkey to approve NATO accession of Finland, Sweden

TALLINN – Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu at a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Tallinn on Wednesday called on Turkey to approve the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden.

Reinsalu said that Turkey is an important partner for Estonia and an ally in NATO.

"I appreciate our economic and cultural cooperation and as allies in NATO," he said. "Like Estonia, Turkey is taking considerable steps to reinforce its security."

Speaking about security in Europe, Reinsalu said he recognized Turkey for its contribution in the fight against terrorism and underlined the importance of continued cooperation in this area.

"The accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO is in the alliance’s strategic interests and in the vital interests of our region," Reinsalu said, calling on Turkey to ratify the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden.   

Speaking of Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine, Reinsalu said that we must continue raising the cost of the war for Russia and called on all NATO members to increase their defense assistance to Ukraine to 1 percent of their GDP.

"Estonia has decided to send the largest military aid package so far to Ukraine, raising the total of assistance provided by Estonia to 370 million euros or more than 1 percent of our GDP," he said. 

"In less than three weeks, we will mark one year from the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression. Russia must answer for crimes of aggression in Ukraine and we must continue isolating Russia internationally until it ends this war," Reinsalu said.

He also told his Turkish colleague why Estonia considers it important to lower the oil price cap set in early December last year.

"2023 must become the year of Ukraine’s victory," Reinsalu said.

The ministers also discussed the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean and EU-Turkey relations. This is Cavusoglu’s fourth visit to Estonia, his most recent visit to Tallinn was in 2019.