2003 OVERVIEW OF WORLDWIDE BILATERAL RELATIONS Overview of worldwide bilateral relations United States, Western and Southern Europe One of the essential factors of Estonian foreign and security policy in 2003 was the main source of the political, economic and military power in the transatlantic co-operation area – the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. US support is one of the main preconditions to guaranteeing Estonia’s security. US support was confirmed on May 8, 2003 when the US Senate ratified the NATO acces- sion protocols of the seven acceding countries, including Estonia, with 96 votes for and none against. The successful ratification was followed by a meeting of the Foreign Minister, Kristiina Ojuland and the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament, Marko Mihkelson, who had both been invited to follow the ratifi- cation procedure, with President Bush and members of the US Senate Foreign Affairs committee. Another example of the strong allied status given to Estonia was the exchange of visits by the Commander of Estonian Defence Forces, Vice-Admiral Tarmo Kõuts in May, and the Chairman of the Joint Heads of Staff Committee General Richard Myers in June 2003. 2003 also showed growing interest of the United States towards Estonia as a future European Union member. The numerous high level bilateral meetings between Estonian and US officials showed the growing importance of Estonian views – among the visits, the most important was that of a US delegation led by Charles Ries, who is responsible for US-EU relations at the State Department. The delegation, which met with a number of Estonian officials, was comprised of a number of high-ranking officials and included the officials that were best informed of Estonia. Estonia-United States co-operation is expected to receive new impetus also in the con- text of the Baltic Sea area and cross-border co-operation. On October 15 2003, the US announced that the “renewed partnership in Northern-Europe” EPINE was made their new policy as a continuation to the Northern European Initiative (NEI).According to the US, the EPINE policy has three main goals - co-operation in the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass-destruction, but also in NATO and PFP programmes, - assistance in solving cross-border social problems – i.e. the so-called “healthy soci eties, healthy neighbours” issues. - economic policy issues, primarily the encouragement of investment, trade and busi ness between the US and the Nordic-Baltic region. 45 2003 ESTONIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS YEARBOOK Co-operation with the UNITED KINGDOM was very good and close in the European Convention, which created a good overall background for the bilateral relations. A good example of shared understandings and values was the joint article by the Prime Ministers of the two countries published in the Financial Times. During the past year, numerous high level visits were made, among which those made by the Chairman of the Estonian Parliament Ene Ergma, the Minister of Finance Tõnis Palts, the Minister of Justice Ken-Marti Vaher and the Minister of Education and Research Toivo Maimets were of importance. Estonia hosted visits by the Lord Chancellor Lord Irvine, the Secretary of State for Scotland Helen Liddell, the Minister of Education Charles Clarke and the First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan in 2003. As a token of historic significance, an annual memorial service held on December 11 2003, dedicated to the British servicemen who perished in the Estonian War of Liberation, should be mentioned. The service was attended by Sir Alan West, First Sea Lord and the Chief of the Naval Staff. The economic relations between Estonia and the United Kingdom are showing signs of good progress. In 2003, the UK was Estonia’s 7th largest trade partner and British invest- ments in Estonia also showed a growth tendency, being the sixth largest investor at the close of the year. Relations with IRELAND, which had been relatively modest at the highest official level, became more active in 2003 owing to the upcoming Irish Presidency of the European Union. In February, the first official visit of an Estonian Prime Minister, Siim Kallas, to Ireland took place. During the past year, no less than six Irish cabinet members, includ- ing Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, paid visits to Estonia. On December 12, the Irish Times published a special issue on Estonia, which confirmed the notion that Estonia and Ireland have much in common, especially as concerns their views on the future of Europe. For a number of years the trade balance between Estonia and Ireland showed a contin- uous, deficit for Estonia. Last year, for the first time the trade balance became positive for Estonia. With the large number of various events in the framework of European integration, bilat- eral relations with GERMANY continued to develop actively last year. Similar to other EU Member States, relations with Germany assumed an increasingly multilateral aspect. Also as a result of direct relations with different Bundesländer, economic and cultural co-operation acquired greater importance in 2003. At the same time, it was stated repeatedly, that greater importance should be given to the German Länder as actors in the regional co-operation in the Baltic Sea area. There were also a number of important bilateral visits. In June, President Arnold Rüütel paid an official visit to Germany, during which meetings with President Johannes Rau and chancellor Gerhard Schröder took place. In September, Prime Minister Juhan Parts paid a visit to Germany, in his opinion the most important of his visits last year. He met with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to dis- cuss European integration and related issues, but Parts also met with the Minister- President of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber to discuss among other things the advantageous investment climate in Estonia for Bavarian investors. 46 2003 OVERVIEW OF WORLDWIDE BILATERAL RELATIONS In November, Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland met with her German col- league Joschka Fischer in Berlin to discuss the issues related to the future of the European Union, regional co-operation as well as security policy issues. Considering the growing attention given to co-operation in the Baltic Sea area it was only natural that a number of German länder leaders visited Estonia last year, such as the Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and his colleague in Schleswig- Holstein. It should be noted in that contacts and co-operation between Estonia and the German Bundesländer have been very good for years. Trade between Estonia and Germany continued its growth in 2003, although the trade balance remained negative for Estonia. Germany retained its 2nd place ranking among importers of Estonian goods, while its share of investments in Estonia ranked it accord- ing to different sources from 5th-7th place. It is realistic to assume that the upcoming accession of Estonia to the EU will enhance Estonia’s attraction to German investors, similar to those from other older member countries. In connection with Estonia’s accession to the EU increased interest in our country has also grown in BELGIUM. The most important visits in 2003, were those by Belgium’s State Secretary for European Affairs, Jacques Simonet to Estonia and the Estonian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee to Brussels. A noteworthy event in Estonian- Belgian relations was the signing of a co-operation agreement for 2004-2005 by the joint Estonia-Flanders committee. The Belgian business circles showed a growing interest in Estonia and the other Baltic states last year. Several business seminars, conferences and the so-called Baltic weeks were organised. Trade between Estonia and Belgium has grown steadily. In 2003, Estonian exports to Belgium increased by almost a half, while imports from Belgium decreased slightly. The trade balance, however, still remained negative for Estonia. Contacts in culture were very active in 2003. Estonian musicians gave several concerts and exhibitions of Estonian art were held in Brussels. When the tensions of the first months of 2003 had subsided, the relations with FRANCE continued in the traditional spirit of friendly co-operation. A number of high level visits took place like those by the Minister Delegate for European Affairs, Noëlle Lenoir and the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly. Estonian President Arnold Rüütel, Chairman of the Parliament Ene Ergma, Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland and several other high-ranking officials made working visits to France during 2003. As usual, the traditional bilateral politico-military consultations continued, taking place this year in Paris. Trade with France continued to grow in 2003. At the end of the year a joint seminar host- ed by the Paris and Estonian Chambers of Trade and Commerce took place. The Paris Chamber of Trade and Commerce organised a trade mission to Estonia. Noteworthy in both economic and cultural context is also the operation of direct flights between Tallinn and Paris, which began in April. The number of Estonian tourists who visited France last year grew by no less than 40 per cent. 47 2003 ESTONIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS YEARBOOK Also the French had several opportunities to acquaint themselves with Estonian culture through a large number of concerts and exhibitions held in 2003. The French media also produced several articles and programmes about Estonian politics, economy and cul- ture in 2003. Relations with the MEDITERRANEAN countries have traditionally been close and friendly, but at the same time fairly limited. Last year, the relations contained elements of a growing closeness. Several essential political meetings as well as a number of seri- ous cultural events were held. The most significant event, which carried great symbolic value in relations with GREECE, was the signing of the Accession Treaties on April 16, at the foot of the Acropolis.