00:00We know that there will be a change...
00:02Estonia's Defence Minister Hanno Pefko announced that he would step down from his political post.
00:08It had emerged that the government used European Union funding to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine
00:14from companies with no previous track record of producing the weapons.
00:19Estonian public broadcaster ERR reported on Wednesday that the government struck a deal in 2024
00:26to acquire artillery shells for Ukraine, paying 70 million euros up front from the EU's European Peace Facility to fund
00:35the purchase.
00:36The companies involved, however, had never previously sold a single artillery shell.
00:41Although the minister does not count stocks and ammunition or conduct contract negotiations,
00:47the National Audit Office's criticisms, primarily concerning the activities of the Defence Forces
00:53and the Centre for Defence Investments, raised the question of political responsibility, Pefko said.
01:01The European Peace Facility is an EU-funding instrument established before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
01:09It aims to strengthen the bloc's ability to prevent conflicts, build and preserve peace,
01:15and reinforce international security and stability.
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