Riho Terras: Eastern border agriculture requires special support in EU budget

TALLINN - Member of the European Parliament Riho Terras (Isamaa/European People's Party) on Tuesday opened a meeting in Brussels attended by representatives of Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Finnish agricultural organizations, members of the European Parliament, and representatives of the European Commission.

"Agriculture and food production must be officially linked to European security policy. In the next EU Common Agricultural Policy and long-term budget, this must be addressed as a component of Europe's strategic security," said Terras, who was also the main organizer of the event.

At the meeting, it was emphasized that rural areas on the EU's eastern border are under growing geopolitical pressure. Since Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, the value of land in the border regions has fallen, financing and insurance costs have increased, and the willingness to invest has decreased, especially among younger farmers.

The joint declaration of the four countries highlights the need for an additional EU budget to support agriculture and food production in the Baltic states and Finland. The declaration specifies that this support must be in the form of direct grants, not loans.

Terras also justified the need for an additional budget by explaining that the Baltic states are allocating an increasing share of their national budgets to defense. This, in turn, limits their ability to provide national co-financing for agriculture and food production. Meanwhile, food security is clearly part of the broader security policy.

"Equal or even greater responsibilities must also mean equal support. Otherwise, we cannot speak of a common policy."

Additionally, border areas need to be populated to be the first to spot changes in regions that are critical to European security.

"Empty border areas are not an abstract social problem, but a real security gap. This gap must be filled with vibrant rural communities," Terras stated.