President Karis to pay farewell visits to Estonia’s closest neighbours and allies

President Karis to pay farewell visits to Estonia’s closest neighbours and allies

President Alar Karis, together with his wife Sirje Karis, will this week be making farewell visits to Estonia’s closest friends and allies, meeting with the heads of state of Germany, Poland, Lithuania and Finland, as well as the Swedish royal couple, to thank them for years of close, trusting and friendly cooperation and to reaffirm those alliances.

“In my role as head of state, I have learned over the past five years that it is in the most difficult moments that you realise who your friends are and how much trust is worth,” President Karis remarked. “Estonia has been lucky: we are surrounded by countries with which we have far more in common than just geography. We are united by shared values and security, a sense of responsibility for the future of our region, and a warm friendship that has developed over the years. Those values are held by people who know how to listen to one another and whose word you can trust. That is what I would like to express my gratitude for as my time in office comes to an end.”

The head of state says that Estonia is linked to all of the countries he will be visiting by close bilateral relations and everyday cooperation in the EU and NATO. Moreover, Estonia is linked to Finland, Sweden and Lithuania through Nordic-Baltic or NB8 cooperation, which is only growing in significance. He underscored the role played in Europe’s security by each of the countries he will be visiting, as well as their contribution to strengthening NATO’s eastern flank and supporting Ukraine, and the fruitful relations Estonia enjoys with them in the spheres of education, culture and the economy.

“Recent years have shown us just how important it is to have friends and allies by your side with whom you share a common understanding of European security, freedom and a rules-based world order,” the head of state remarked. “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has boosted our cooperation even further, and brought the nations of the Baltic Sea region closer together than ever before.”

This evening, the Estonian presidential couple will be meeting with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany and Mrs Elke Büdenbender in Berlin. Tomorrow morning, President Karis and Sirje Karis will be meeting with President Karol Tadeusz Nawrocki of Poland and Marta Nawrocki in Warsaw, and in the afternoon they will be meeting with President Gitanas Nausėda of Lithuania and Diana Nausėdienė in Vilnius.

On Thursday evening, the presidential couple will be meeting with President Alexander Stubb of Finland and Suzanne Innes-Stubb in Helsinki, and on Friday they will be rounding out their visits in Stockholm, where they will meet with King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.

At the end of August, President Karis and Sirje Karis paid a farewell visit to Latvia to thank President Edgars Rinkēvičs for the neighbourly relations and cooperation they have enjoyed.

As soon as they become available, Raigo Pajula’s photos of the meetings will be published online at: Office of the President /Presidendi kantselei’s albums | Flickr