According to the prime minister, Estonia has a close and trusting relationship with France and a common desire to shape the future of Europe.

"We share with France the understanding that our priority is to continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. Together, we can help Ukraine win the war and force Russia to retreat to its borders. We have the resources, the economic power, and the expertise. The power of the free world is greater than Russia's, and we must not be afraid of our own power," Kallas said.

Estonia and France also share the view that Europe's top strategic priority at the moment must be to strengthen its defense capabilities. "All allies need to invest more in their defense. Estonia has been doing this for a long time. Currently, our defense spending is over 3 percent of GDP. But France's defense spending will also exceed 2 percent for the first time this year," she said.

We have to continue our work to get the European defense industry back on track, she said. "In Estonia, we decided to set up a 50-million-euro defense industry fund to strengthen Estonia's security and boost the economy. We also need solutions at the European level. The EU needs to spend more of its seven-year budget on defense. The current 0.86 percent is very low," Kallas said.

"I thanked President Macron for his support for the idea of Estonian defense bonds," she added. Kallas said Estonia was open to other ideas that could help accelerate Europe's defense capabilities.

In Paris, Kallas also met with French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, and thanked France for its excellent defense cooperation. "We are grateful that French troops are in Tapa and that French planes have defended our skies from Ämari," she said. Kallas also highlighted the good military cooperation with France in Africa.

The prime minister also discussed the desire to intensify cooperation between Estonian and French companies.

"One possible area is green technologies," she said. "When we were in Paris last fall, we signed a memorandum of understanding between Estonia and France on green technologies, so that French companies are very welcome to come to Estonia to explore opportunities for cooperation."

Another topic of discussion was Russia's shadow war against the free world.

"Russia's hybrid actions against Europe have become increasingly robust. We need to discuss these issues seriously with our allies and partners and send a clear message to Russia that this behavior is unacceptable," she said.

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