Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas came to Ukraine on 24 April with a message of wartime solidarity and strong support for the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration. “I am here with a message of firm belief. I believe in Ukraine’s victory and I believe in Ukraine as a prosperous liberal democracy that belongs in the Euro-Atlantic family,” she commented during her visit. “For peace in Europe, we need Ukraine in the EU and NATO. The way to lasting peace is to end grey areas in European security.”
This was the first foreign trip undertaken by Kallas as head of Estonia’s new government following reelection. Her center-right Reform Party comfortably won the Baltic country’s general election in March 2023, with a far-right populist challenger losing seats in a vote that focused largely on national security and economic issues. Kallas is hugely popular in Ukraine, where she is seen as one of the country’s most vocal backers within the European Union and an outspoken critic of Russian aggression.
While in Ukraine, Kallas confirmed her government’s recent decision to provide the Ukrainian military with additional artillery shells. She also visited Zhytomyr Oblast, which is the region where Estonia is focusing its reconstruction efforts. Kallas spent time at a kindergarten in the region that is being built with Estonian support.