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President Ilves and Ieva Ilves to embark on an official visit to Croatia

20.03.2016

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Ieva Ilves will tomorrow embark on a three day official visit to Croatia; in addition to the meetings of the Head of State, several bilateral discussions between key ministers of Estonia and Croatia will take place. The President will be accompanied by a representative business delegation.

According to President Ilves, Estonia and Croatia – allies in the European Union and NATO – are like-minded countries that attach importance to the internal integrity of Europe and the strength required to overcome today's crises, trans-Atlantic security co-operation to ensure our security, regional competitiveness, and the strengthening of bilateral economic relations and partnership within the IT and e-governance sector.

During the official visit of the Estonian Head of State, which is taking place at the invitation of the President of Croatia, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President Ilves will meet with his Croatian counterpart; the Prime Minister, Tihomir Orešković; and the Speaker of the Parliament, Academician Željko Rainer, and he will deliver a public lecture entitled "Europe at a Crossroads" at Zagreb University.

The Estonian delegation will also pay a visit to the IT and robotics centres of Rijeka University and the small town of Opatija.

Ieva Ilves, who will be accompanied by Jakov Kitarović, the spouse of the Croatian Head of State, who has a background in IT and cyber security, will visit Reversing Labs in Zagreb, a company that is focused on the development of cyber defence software and has an international market.

The official delegation that accompanies the Head of State includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marina Kaljurand; Minister of the Interior, Hanno Pevkur; Minister of Entrepreneurship, Liisa Oviir; and Commander of the Defence Forces, Riho Terras. During the visit, they have all scheduled bilateral meetings with their Croatian counterparts. The official delegation also includes Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs, Kyllike Sillaste-Elling; Deputy Secretary General for Economic Development of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, Viljar Lubi; Data Security Professor of the Institute of Computer Sciences of University of Tartu, Professor Dominique Unruh; and a member of the Riigikogu, Peeter Ernits.

The business delegation that accompanies the Estonian Head of State, which is being led by the Chairman of Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Toomas Luman, includes Sven Aulik (GoSwift), Robert Juodka (Law Office Varul), Roman Zahharov (Skinest Rail AS), Ruth Oltjer (Chemi-Pharm AS), Mailis Lintlom (Windoor AS), Janek Pohla (Tahe Outdoors), Anne Samlik (Estravel AS), Neeme Org (Aktors OÜ), Peeter Puppart (Inwise OÜ), Allan Aru (Featherie Invest OÜ), Kadri Land and Harri Hanschmidt (AS Tallink Grupp) and James Oates (Cicero Capital OÜ).

The Croatian Head of State visited Estonia in 2007 and 2011; President Ilves also made an official visit to Zagreb in 2009.


Office of the President
Public Relations Department