Press release, 28 May 2013
President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves: Estonia is Lithuania’s firm ally
President of the Republic of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, paid a visit to the Seimas and addressed the Lithuanian MPs at a sitting of the Seimas.
In his address, the Estonian President pointed out that in the 21st century, our task was to envision ourselves as something much greater compared to us in the 20th century. “We must rightfully speak about a Baltic-Nordic region that unites the Baltic Sea as an internal sea of the European Union – a new Mare Nostrum. This large region can be successful only if all these countries stand for the same values and share a common belief in freedom and liberal democracy; when all these states are interested in collective success and work towards it; when transport functions; energy security is assured; the domestic market is free of restrictions; when we all share the security burden equally and are a breeding ground for research and innovation. If we are able to make proper use of the opportunities provided by the Baltic-Nordic dimension, we will see a region developing in Europe – from Poland in the south to Sweden and Finland in the north – where the economies function well and the people live well and which could justifiably be described as open, developing, successful, influential, transparent, innovative, supportive of civil society and secure,” President Ilves said.
The Estonian Head of State expressed his concern over common security, particularly over the “common sense of responsibility, which would ensure that investments in national defence are sufficient to make the Baltic-Nordic defence capabilities strong both inside and outside of NATO and that, along with conventional threats, we also understand the importance of cyber defence. After all, the commonplace nature of cyber attacks has already turned them into ordinary threats.”
The President underlines that his country supports Latvia’s and Lithuania’s accession to the euro area, which would increase the number of responsible states in the euro area that follow the rules. “This is in Estonia’s national interest. Poland’s accession to the euro area would also be in our interest,” said the President of Estonia at the Seimas sitting.
President Ilves stresses that Estonia and Lithuania both think it is important to create an internal EU energy market, to send the same message to third countries and to build connections between the Member States in order to eliminate the current energy islands. “My personal opinion is that a new nuclear power station, here on the edge of the European Union, may also be necessary. However, as in the case of any project, clarity is essential – how it will be put into operation and what it will mean to all the participants.”
The Estonian President points out that the next EU budget provides an historic opportunity to build a modern communication route between the three Baltic States and the rest of Europe. “Rail Baltica will enable both people and goods to move rapidly from the northern tip of Finland, through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, to the heart of Europe and back again,” says the President as he stresses the importance of the project for the whole region.
The President of Estonia assures the Seimas that his country is a firm ally of Lithuania. “We support the goals for your EU Presidency during the second half of this year.” He says that if it were Estonia’s turn to take over the Presidency of the Council, their agenda would be exactly the same. He adds that the areas we find important are equally important to them.
Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, tel: +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]
