Estonian PM, Roberta Metsola discuss European Parliament elections, future of EU

TALLINN - Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, who is on a visit to Estonia on Monday, discussed the upcoming European Parliament elections in June and the European Union's objectives for the coming five years.

During the bilateral meeting, the importance of active and informed participation of European Union citizens in the European Parliament elections was emphasized.

"Brave Ukrainians prove to us every day that the freedom to choose our future is worth fighting for. Over half of the EU citizens are interested in the European Parliament elections. We must continue to show people that their concerns are also the concerns of the EU," Kallas said at the press conference following the meeting.

Kallas said that the focus of the European Union for the next five years should be on strengthening Europe's defense readiness and resilience to crises.

"The best way to secure our common future is to help Ukraine win the war. And we all need to do more to strengthen our defense readiness, by allocating more resources to the defense sector, increasing production, and simplifying the rules imposed on the sector," Kallas emphasized.

Both Kallas and Metsola consider the fight against disinformation, including its dissemination on major social media platforms, to be of great importance.

"Russia is waging a shadow war against democratic societies -- its goal is to create distrust, deter us from supporting Ukraine, and influence democratic decision-making processes. This year, with significant elections taking place both in Europe and America, we need to be particularly vigilant," Kallas said.

The Estonian prime minister and the president of the European Parliament also addressed strengthening the EU's competitiveness with the support of digital and green transitions. Kallas emphasized the need to abolish the current state aid exemptions and reduce administrative burden for companies operating in the EU internal market.