Foreign Minister Tsahkna at the Tallinn Digital Summit: Digital societies are not built only on technology, they are built on values
Today 20 November, Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna gave the opening speech of the second day of the Tallinn Digital Summit and took part in the panel discussion on the European Union’s foreign policy tool Global Gateway.
In his opening speech, Tsahkna recalled that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has continued for 1001 days and all these days have demonstrated the resilience of Ukrainians and their ability to enact reforms under extremely difficult circumstances.
“Despite the war, Ukraine has adopted open-source technology and public-private innovation. Often, they have used what is available to them. From military technology to digital communications, this cooperation has set a new standard – how to build up and protect a digital state in the middle of a war,” Tsahkna said.
Speaking about the development of technology, the foreign minister said it presented both new opportunities as well as threats. “Resilience to growing threats cannot be achieved alone and in isolation,” Tsahkna said. “Digital societies are not built only on technology – they are built on values, such as openness and transparency, and it is key to cooperate with countries that consider these values important.”
Tsahkna also spoke about the Tallinn Mechanism, which aims to include partners to support Ukraine’s civilian cyber capabilities.
Speaking in the panel on the Global Gateway, Tsahkna underlined that cooperation with global partners went beyond large infrastructure projects; instead, as Estonia has shown, it also included cooperation and sharing experiences on digital and cyber affairs. The Global Gateway is a foreign policy instrument of the European Union aimed at improved cooperation with global partners.
“The European offer must be comprehensive to global partners – in addition to infrastructure we need to focus on standard-setting and policy-setting, education and skills development. Also, our words and actions must show a genuine will to understand our global partners’ interests and challenges,” Tsahkna said.
On the second day of the summit, Undersecretary for Global Affairs Minna-Liina Lind took part in the panel on internet freedom and presented Estonia’s priorities for its chairmanship of the Freedom Online Coalition in 2025.
The annual Tallinn Digital Summit is held on 19 and 20 November for the seventh time and it brings together innovative digital states, companies, international organisations, and academia from across the world.
Photos of the Tallinn Digital Summit.
Watch the panel discussions of the second day.
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