Estonian Review E E S T I R I N G V A A D E VOLUME 20 NO 22 JUN 11 - 17, 2010 FOREIGN NEWS FOREIGN NEWS President Ilves Hopes EU Accession Negotiations With Iceland Begin Soon 11 June - “Estonia will support Iceland in beginning accession negotiations with the European Union as persistently and decisively as Iceland supported the restoration of the independence of the Baltic States 20 years ago,” said President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, on a state visit to Iceland, at his meeting with Icelandic Head of State Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. “Just like the experiences of Iceland in these influential organisations helped Estonia regain its position within Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, German Foreign Minister Guido the international community, we Westerwelle, Latvian Foreign Minister Aivis Ronis and Lithuanian are now ready to share Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis in Tallinn, 11 June. experiences we have gained in the process of joining the EU,” he Baltic and German Foreign Ministers Discuss Opportunities to added, recalling the first seminar Develop EU-Russia Relations on the topic, organised by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign 11 June - Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet met with German Affairs, which took place in April Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Latvian Foreign Minister Aivis of this year. His sentiments were Ronis and Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis in Tallinn. echoed in a statement by Foreign While talking about relations between the EU and Russia, Foreign Minister Minister Urmas Paet, who said Paet noted that at the Rostov meeting a good basis was created for moving that Estonia has always forward with the Modernisation Partnership, trade matters, negotiations for a supported European Union new treaty, and visa dialogue. “Estonia feels it is important to share reform enlargement, including in experiences, introduce e-services, and co-operate on the level of local Northern Europe, and welcomes governments. Regional and border area co-operation will remain a priority the beginning of Iceland’s for Estonia as a European Union border state,” stated Foreign Minister Paet. accession negotiations. They also shared positions regarding the NATO Strategic Concept. The President Ilves acknowledged foreign ministers of Estonia, Germany, Latvia and Lithuania agreed that the how the Icelandic Government is work of the group of experts was thorough and provides a good basis for not asking for any exceptions to creating a new Strategic Concept. “All of the areas that needed to be be made in the accession addressed were represented in the report, and good proposals were made process, but looks forward to the for resolving the challenges that stand before NATO,” added Foreign Minister regular and honest process that Paet. has been pursued by all the The foreign ministers also discussed the topic of energy security. Paet other countries. stated that in order to ensure EU energy security and have a joint energy policy in relation to third countries, it is necessary to diversify suppliers, Continued on page 2 create additional energy connections between member states, and create a functioning energy market in the EU. “We feel it is important to further expand the Energy Community into Eastern Partnership countries,” said Foreign Minister Paet. The Energy Community is the union of the European Dear Readers! Commission and south-eastern European nations for creating a common The Estonian Review will energy market in south-eastern Europe based on EU legislation. not appear next week. The In talking about co-operation in the Baltic Sea region, the foreign ministers agreed that it will be strengthened by the effective implementation next issue will appear on of the Baltic Sea Region Strategy. 2 July. Iceland completed report includes 65 proposals in nine fields of activity. (continued from page 1) According to Ansip, Estonia’s primary interest in “Estonia also emphasises the importance of the implementing the report is the promotion of human Icesave case not interfering with the accession relations. Among other things, this would result in negotiations in any way, as this is an issue to be closer integration of the border areas, for example, settled in the due course of negotiations between by marketing these areas as joint tourism regions, Iceland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom,” as well as the joint planning of vocational education stressed President Ilves. in the border areas. At the same time, Estonia is At his meeting with Prime Minister of Iceland also interested in the development of cross-border Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, President Ilves stated that infrastructure. In the field of transportation, this Estonia sharing its accession experiences with would include repairing old border crossings, as well Iceland is Estonians’ duty as committed Europeans as advancing the progress of the Rail Baltica project. and Estonia’s debt of honour to Iceland, who was In order to involve NGOs and take the discussion the first to recognise the Republic of Estonia back in to a broader audience, an Estonian-Latvian co- August of 1991. operation seminar will be organised this autumn. President Ilves emphasised the fact that a small The objective of the seminar is to find expression for European country has no way of influencing the the ideas in the report in specific co-operation decisions of the EU in any way unless it is part of the projects. “We can only put the proposals in the European Union. “This is a strong argument, which report into practice through working together,” should serve to dissipate the hesitations that many Prime Minister Ansip stressed. According to the Icelanders have regarding the European Union,” said prime minister, resources from the EU Regional the Estonian head of state. Development Fund, among other things, can help to President Ilves and Prime Minister Sigurðardóttir, implement the ideas presented in the report – the also discussed the effects of the most difficult volume of the Estonian-Latvian co-operation economic and financial crisis in recent history. programme until 2013 is 580 million EEK. “Both of us, Estonia and Iceland, can see the first signs of economic recovery; however, conservative budget policies remain important, and reducing unemployment is the most essential issue to be resolved,” said the Estonian head of state. The Estonian Head of State also spoke about the plan to organise a Day of Iceland in Tallinn on 21 August 2011, which will be a part of the events organised to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Estonia regaining its independence and a special day to say ‘thank you’ to Iceland for supporting the independence of the Baltic states. Prime Minister of Iceland Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir gave a dinner in her summer residence in honour of President Ilves and Mrs. Evelin Ilves; the President of Iceland, Mr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, and his wife, Mrs. Dorrit Moussaieff, were also present. President Ilves also visited the Icelandic Parliament and gave a presentation entitled “Two Decades of Independence – Estonia as a Part of the International Community” in Reykjavík. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis, 11 June. Latvian and Estonian Prime Ministers Discuss Future Co-operation German Foreign Minister Recognises 11 June - At a meeting in Riga, Prime Minister Estonia’s Fulfilment of Euro Criteria Andrus Ansip and Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis discussed future co-operation 12 June - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, in Tallinn for a visit, said during between their two countries. The discussion was his meeting with Foreign Minister Urmas Paet based on the Report on Future Estonian-Latvian Co- operation, which was presented today. Prime that Germany has firmly supported Estonia Minister Ansip also acknowledged the success of the adopting the euro because Estonia has fulfilled all the necessary requirements. Foreign Minister management exercised by his Latvian colleague Urmas Paet said that both the European Commission during the economic crisis. “The situation in Latvia was extremely complicated, but it was stabilised as and the European Central Bank decided that Estonia had sustainably fulfilled the Maastricht criteria for a result of hard decisions being made,” Prime acceding to the euro zone. “Adhering to the policies Minister Ansip said. He added that both the Latvian and Estonian governments did everything in their that allow us to join the euro zone is one of the most important outcomes of Estonia’s long-term power to allow their countries to recover as quickly economic policy,” said Paet. Foreign Minister Paet as possible and continue their development. also noted that Estonia is convinced that the euro The Report on Estonian-Latvian Co-operation was zone will emerge from the present crisis stronger ordered by the foreign ministers of both countries in than before. order to get a thorough overview of the co-operative potential of the two countries. The recently Paet said that Estonia highly values its defence submit the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and security policy-related co-operation with with Serbia to their parliaments for ratification. Germany, which has become much more frequent In discussing the situation in Somalia and during the past years. “Germany is the first nation developments in the fight against piracy, the EU to participate in the Baltic air policing mission three foreign ministers commended Operation ATALANTA times,” said Paet, adding that we welcome for its successes in deterring, preventing