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President Ilves to attend the meeting of Arraiolos Group in Poland

08.10.2013

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves will leave today for a two-day working visit to Kraków, where he will attend the meeting of the Arraiolos Group along with several other heads of state to discuss the future of Europe.

The meeting of the Arraiolos Group, this time bringing together heads of state who do not take part in the EU Council sessions, mostly focuses on the Eastern Partnership of the European Union and transatlantic relations.

At the invitation of Polish President Bronisław Komorowski, the participants of the Arraiolos Group meeting in Kraków include the President of Bulgaria Rosen Plevneliev, the President of Italy Giorgio Napolitano, the President of Latvia Andris Bērziņš, the President of Germany Joachim Gauck, the President of Finland Sauli Niinistö and the President of Portugal Aníbal Cavaco Silva.

The Arraiolos Group is the name for a series of informal meetings, launched in 2003 and bringing together heads of state who, according to their respective constitutions, do not take part in the sessions of the EU Council. To date, eight meetings have taken place, the first of which was held by the President of Portugal Jorge Sampaio in Arraiolos, Portugal, and the participants included the heads of state of Latvia, Poland, Germany, Finland and Hungary. At the 2005 meeting in Helsinki, the circle of participants grew with Austria and Italy joining the group. In 2011, Slovenia was invited and Estonia and Bulgaria this year.

In Krakòw, the Estonian Head of State will hold bilateral meetings with the Polish President Bronisław Komorowski and the Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

President Ilves will return to Estonia late on Wednesday.


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