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President Ilves met with the Delegation of the US Congress

15.04.2009

“The maintenance and development of the transatlantic association, which is based on common values, has not lost its topicality, quite the opposite – the need for it has increased,” confirmed the Estonian Head of State President Toomas Hendrik Ilves met today with the Delegation from the US House of Representatives, whose main field of activity includes transatlantic relations and cooperation with the European Parliament.

“The maintenance and development of the transatlantic association, which is based on common values, has not lost its topicality, quite the opposite – the need for it has increased,” confirmed the Estonian Head of State. “Our close mutual cooperation is extremely important for overcoming the global economic crisis as well as for resolving problems related to security policy, which include more than just Afghanistan.”

The delegation from the US House of Representatives recognized Estonia for prioritizing and raising awareness about cybersecurity.

“Like many other countries, Estonia and the United States have come into close contact with this threat,” said President Ilves. “The events in Estonia two years ago were definitely a wake-up call for many, demonstrating that this is a genuine problem that needs to be resolved. It also helped NATO make the decision to create a Cyber Defense Center in Estonia.”

The Estonian Head of State stressed the fact that cyber crime almost always crosses national borders, and therefore, an international convention needs to be created that would be binding on democratic countries and would make cyber crime subject to criminal prosecution everywhere.

At the meeting, Russia’s relations with Estonia, NATO and the U.S. were discussed, as were the consequences of the Russian-Georgian war.

“Developing relations with Russia is extremely important, but we must also ensure that our own common values do not suffer as a consequence,” said the Estonian Head of State.


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