Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna expressed the hope that the EU would open two new negotiation clusters with Ukraine and Moldova, and called for frozen Russian assets to be used to provide further support to Kyiv.
According to the European bureau of Report, he made these remarks to journalists ahead of the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg.
“I hope that we will make use of the frozen Russian assets at the European Union’s disposal. We are talking about (almost) 200 billion euros,” he said.
According to the minister, the EU must also discuss further sources of funding for aid to Ukraine against the backdrop of intensifying Russian attacks.
The Estonian Foreign Minister also spoke of the need to strengthen Europe’s security in the face of what he described as an increase in acts of sabotage and terrorist attacks. In particular, he advocated measures aimed at restricting the entry into Europe of former Russian combatants once the war has ended.
The minister also highlighted the scale of visa issuance to Russian citizens: according to him, Schengen Area countries issued 650,000 tourist visas to Russian citizens last year. He called for a review of the approach to visa restrictions, taking into account the risks to European security.
