“I’ve no doubt people in Estonia most closely associate NATO with the noise coming out of Ämari air base and the soldiers and their equipment stationed in Tapa,” President Kaljulaid remarked after the meeting. “They’re important not just to Estonia, but to the organisation as a whole. Indeed, NATO is all around us, the full 360 degrees. We can’t afford to lower our ambitions when it comes to security, and to that end all of the organisation’s member states need to openly and honestly share their concerns with their allies and listen to and try to understand one another. That’s the only way we can expect our allies to appreciate the concerns we have and the threats we face up in the north-eastern corner of the organisation. We have one NATO – the same united organisation whether it’s based in ports on the Mediterranean or in hangars in Ämari.”
Discussion during the meeting also focussed on conflict and instability in countries close to NATO’s borders. “We’re keeping an anxious eye on the escalating conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh and on developments in Belarus,” the head of state explained. “NATO’s collective and very clear position is that the people of Belarus must have the right to determine their own path in free and fair elections.”
During the meeting, President Kaljulaid also presented Secretary General Stoltenberg with the state decoration he was awarded last year: the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st class.
After the meeting, Estonia made a digital mark in the annals of NATO history, with the head of state and secretary general giving the organisation’s first ever virtual, two-way press conference.
The President of the Republic is on a three-day working visit. Today she will be meeting in Luxembourg with Prime Minister Xavier Bettel before continuing her visit tomorrow in Paris.
Photos: Office of the President of the Republic
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