Скачать или смотреть Estonia and Luxembourg defence ministers comment on defence spending, Sweden's NATO membership bid

(15 Feb 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brussels - 15 February 2024
++STARTS ON SOUNDBITE++
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defense Minister:
"Well, first, it is important that we are spending 2%, and when it's together with the aid to Ukraine, it's also better than having 1.1% without the aid to Ukraine because Ukraine is fighting for our freedom also. And this is important that, you know, that, every tank destroyed in Ukrainian territory, of the Russian army, is one tank less behind NATO's border."
++BLACK FRAMES++
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defense Minister:
"For me, Sweden has been a member already (for) many months. This is not a question and this is just a matter of time and I really do not understand why Hungary is postponing that. And I believe also, for them, it's not very comfortable to be the last one because we remember that (Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor) Orban said that they do not want to be the last ones, now they are. So I hope that the coming weeks will bring the solution."
++BLACK FRAMES++
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Hanno Pevkur, Estonian Defense Minister:
"Europe has to be ready to defend its territories also and we are all in this together, so if one is attacked, everyone is attacked, and so simply this. So we have 'one for all, all for one' principle. And every member of the alliance has to count on that and has to take this very seriously. So this is why, as long we have 31, and very soon 32 members, of the NATO, then everybody has to be ready to defend each other."
4. Mid of Pevkur leaving
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Yuriko Backes, Luxembourg's Defense Minister:
"We know that the international security situation is very challenging, very complex, and also very dangerous. It's been almost two years since Russia has invaded Ukraine with all the terrible consequences. We know that this is hard for Ukraine but, more generally, for the entire world."
++ENDS ON SOUNDBITE++
STORYLINE:
At a gathering of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) defense ministers in Brussels on Thursday, Estonia and Luxembourg's representatives both stressed the importance of providing finance to Ukraine in its war against Russia.

"It is important that we are spending 2%, and when it's together with the aid to Ukraine, it's also better than having 1.1% without the aid to Ukraine because Ukraine is fighting for our freedom also," said Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.

"Every tank destroyed in Ukrainian territory, of the Russian army, is one tank less behind NATO's border," he added.

"It's been almost two years since Russia has invaded Ukraine with all the terrible consequences. We know that this is hard for Ukraine but, more generally, for the entire world," said Luxembourg's Defense Minister Yuriko Backes.

Pevkur also stated he already considered Sweden a member of the alliance and was dismayed with Hungary's delay in approving them joining.

"For me, Sweden has been a member already (for) many months. This is not a question and this is just a matter of time and I really do not understand why Hungary is postponing that," Pevkur said.

"I hope that the coming weeks will bring the solution," he added, regarding Sweden's membership.

On Wednesday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance's European members and Canada have ramped up defense spending to record levels, as he warned that former US President Donald Trump was undermining their security by calling into question the US commitment to its allies.


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