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President of Estonia meets Lithuanian Head of State

08.10.2009

“All of us must focus on the most important challenge – continued stabilisation of the economy while creating the prerequisites required for new growth,” said the President, Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, at his meeting with the Lithuanian Head of State, Ms. Dalia Grybauskaite, who arrived in Estonia for a working visit.

“Today, the economy of the European Union has reached a turning point, which will also support the progress of our economy in the future, but only if we will be capable of keeping the revenues and expenditures of the state under control. So far, Estonia has met this objective,” President Ilves emphasised.

“The situations in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are very different and it’s impossible to draw conclusion for the whole region based solely on one of the Baltic states; however, each of us will be responsible for the reputation of the region as a whole with either our efforts or negligence,” the Estonian Head of State emphasised.

The new strategic concept of NATO, still based upon collective defence principles, and the most important mission of the alliance in Afghanistan, where the defence force members and civil officials of Estonian and Lithuania participate, were also discussed at the meeting of the two presidents.

Estonian and Lithuanian heads of state also discussed the energy problems of the region, including the establishment of the Baltic electricity market and a new nuclear power station.

“The creation of the Baltic energy market will be a part of the future Northern Baltic electricity market,” President Ilves emphasised, seeing direct deliveries from the European Union suppliers to final consumers as an important aspect. “Otherwise, the situation would discriminate against the other European Union Member States, including Estonia.”

President Ilves also emphasised the importance of learning as fast as possible whether the declaration of the three Blatic states on building a jointly funded nuclear power station in Lithuania is still eligible or whether Estonia should start searching for alternatives to create new electricity production capacities.

Presidents Ilves and Grybauskaite also expressed their pleasure on the positive outcome of the Irish referendum.

The Estonian Head of State also stressed the importance of creating a joint foreign service of the European Union.

“However, this should be done in a way that would enhance the uniformity of the foreign politics of the European Union and contribute to better co-ordination of foreign undertakings,” said President Ilves. “For this very reason Estonia wants the European Union to have a strong foreign service with a wide scope of application, having better visibility and added value by also fulfilling the functions of consular services.”

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