Ireland’s new Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence, Helen McEntee, is heading to Tallinn for a series of high-level talks as European leaders weigh fresh moves to bolster Ukraine and tighten pressure on Russia.
In the Estonian capital, Minister McEntee will hold bilateral meetings with Estonian Foreign Affairs Minister Margus Tsahkna and a senior official from the country’s ministry of defence.
The agenda is set to include EU support for Ukraine, further sanctions against Russia, and a range of defence and security issues.
European competitiveness — a central priority for Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union — is also due to feature, alongside discussions on the next seven-year EU budget covering 2028-2034, during her meeting with Mr Tsahkna.
“Ireland and Estonia are like-minded on the key issues facing Europe, above all on supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression and on its journey towards membership of the European Union,” Minister McEntee said ahead of the visit.
As part of the trip, she will sign a joint letter of intent with Estonia, committing both countries to work together to continue providing aid for education and health projects in Ukraine.
Minister McEntee will also meet the permanent secretary of Estonia’s ministry of defence.
Her visit comes days after political upheaval in Estonia, where a defence procurement scandal led to the resignation of defence minister Hanno Pevkur, who had held the post since 2022.
Read the latest Ukraine stories
A state-run audit found that Estonia’s defence ministry awarded a €70m contract to produce ammunition shells for Ukraine to a firm with no track record of manufacturing shells.
Mr Pevkur, widely seen as a strong supporter of military assistance for Ukraine, said he had not read the contracts and told Estonia’s public news service ETV last week that he would step down as “a matter of political responsibility”.
After Estonia, Minister McEntee will travel to Riga for talks with Latvian foreign minister Baiba Braže.
Estonia and Latvia — both NATO members — have reported a number of Ukrainian drone incursions in recent months, incidents linked to Russian electronic signal jamming that can push drones off course.
Last month, Italian fighter jets on a NATO patrol shot down a Ukrainian drone after it drifted into Latvian airspace from the borders with Russia and Belarus.
NATO aircraft on an air patrol over Estonia took similar action in May.
