ملف:Iratxe García Pérez March 2022.jpg

English: MEPs joined Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in calling for more EU defence, reduced energy dependence and solidarity with Ukraine in a plenary debate on 9 March.

Opening the debate, Parliament President Roberta Metsola said: "We need to re-assess the European Union’s role in this new world. We need to boost our investment in defence and innovative technologies. This is the time for us to take decisive steps to ensure the security of all Europeans. The time to build a real security and defence union and reduce our dependencies on the Kremlin.”

In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine and as prime minister of a country sharing a nearly 300km border with Russia, Kallas called for increased EU defence, decreased energy dependence and emphasised the importance of the Nato alliance. She also talked about the importance of the future of Ukraine: “It is in our interest that Ukraine becomes more stable, more prosperous and is solidly founded on the rule of law. (...) But it’s not only in our interest to give Ukraine a membership perspective, it is also our moral duty to do so. Ukraine is not fighting for Ukraine, it’s also fighting for Europe.”

Read more: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/priorities/ukrai...

This photo is free to use under Creative Commons license CC-BY-4.0 and must be credited: "CC-BY-4.0: © European Union 2022 – Source: EP". (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) No model release form if applicable. For bigger HR files please contact: webcom-flickr(AT)europarl.europa.eu