Chairs of Baltic Foreign Affairs Committees are on a joint visit to Turkey

NordenBladet —

Mihkelson said that the main topics of the visit would be supporting Ukraine in Russia’s ongoing war of aggression, as well as Sweden’s NATO accession process. “I am very happy that the protocols of the North Atlantic Treaty on Sweden’s accession to NATO have reached the Turkish Parliament for ratification. We hope that soon we will see Sweden as a full member of the Alliance,” he added.

The increasingly tense situation in the South Caucasus and the impact of the Israel-Hamas war on the security situation in the Middle East will also be discussed at the meetings.

Mihkelson underlined that the defence cooperation with Turkey was also important for Estonia. “Turkey is a very important partner and ally for us in NATO. The cooperation agreement of defence industries that was signed by our Ministers of Defence the week before last and the procurement contract for nearly 230 wheeled armoured vehicles, which directly contributes to Estonia’s security, are examples of our excellent relations,” he noted.

During the visit, the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of Baltic Parliaments will meet with Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey Fuat Oktay, Chairman of the National Defence Committee Hulusi Akar and Chairman of the Turkey – European Union Joint Parliamentary Committee İsmail Emrah Karayel. They also plan to have meetings with the President’s Foreign Policy and Security Chief Advisor, former Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament Akif Çağatay Kiliç, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hakan Fidan and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mehmet Kemal Bozay.

Besides Mihkelson, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima (Parliament) of Latvia Rihards Kols and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania Žygimantas Pavilionis participate in the visit.

Riigikogu Press Service
Karin Kangro
+372 631 6356, +372 520 0323
karin.kangro@riigikogu.ee
Questions: press@riigikogu.ee

Link uudisele: Chairs of Baltic Foreign Affairs Committees are on a joint visit to Turkey

Source: Parliament of Estonia