NordenBladet — President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Henn Põlluaas and President of Croatia Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović acknowledged at their meeting today that Estonia and Croatia were close by their common values and world view, and stood for the rules-based world order.
“The relations between our two countries are excellent,” Põlluaas said. “Although we are not neighbours, our histories have a lot in common, and we have common values that we share.”
Future of the European Union, the work of the European Parliament, which was elected in spring, and the formation of the new European Commission were spoken about at the meeting. The relations between the Balkan countries were also discussed.
Põlluaas pointed out at the meeting that tourism played an important role in the relations between Estonia and Croatia. “Already now, Croatia is a well-known destination country for the Estonian tourists, and we would be very happy to welcome more Croatian tourists in Estonia,” Põlluaas said.
Põlluaas thanked Croatia for their support at the UN Security Council voting, and praised the excellent cooperation of the two countries in the European Union and NATO. He expressed hope that Croatia would join the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence located in Estonia before the end of this year.
The President of Croatia gave an overview of the plans of her country for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place in the first half of 2020, and said that Croatia would like to learn from Estonia’s experience. Croatia’s priorities include the development of economy and the challenges to education, and also the security of the European Union.
Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Enn Eesmaa also participated in the meeting. He pointed out that Estonia supported further enlargement of the European Union and the open doors policy. In his opinion, the European Union will not be ready before all Balkan countries that wish to accede are members of the Union.
Source: Parliament of Estonia