President Karis will be addressing the General Assembly on behalf of Estonia late on Tuesday evening (Estonian time) about the unavoidable need for concrete steps to reform the UN so that the global organisation better meets the expectations placed on it. He will also be stressing the need to support Ukraine and hold Russia accountable as the aggressor in its ongoing war with the country. The Security Council’s inability to resolve conflicts has crippled the UN and led to a rapid decline in its credibility.
“Whenever a country tramples the UN Charter underfoot, the international community must be even more vigorous in its defence of the charter and its founding principles,” he said. “Estonia has been vocal in its support for reforming the UN, and especially the Security Council, since the need to do so is clearer than ever.”
The head of state added that a broader focus among UN members on Ukraine is not something that can be taken for granted. “That is something we are increasingly seeing,” he noted, “especially as the crisis in the Middle East has drawn the eye of many countries. For this reason, greater effort is needed to maintain strong, broad-based international support for Ukraine.”
While in New York, President Karis will also be participating in one of the key events of UN General Assembly week: the Summit of the Future. Organised by the UN Secretary-General in response to the desire of member countries to improve global cooperation and set the direction for future UN action to ensure global development, peace and security, the event will include a discussion led by the Estonian head of state on reducing the digital divide between countries.
Elsewhere, President Karis will be opening a high-level meeting initiated by Estonia and organised in cooperation with Liechtenstein, Guyana, Sierra Leone, Singapore and Kuwait at which discussions will seek to come devise solutions for the preservation and reinforcement of the rules-based world order.
The Estonian head of state will also be attending a meeting arranged by Ukraine, the G7 and other countries that have entered into security agreements with Ukraine to discuss the issues of ongoing support for and reconstruction in the country.
Furthermore, President Karis will be speaking at the first ever high-level meeting on the threats posed by rising sea levels, which is being held on the initiative of the UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
A joint meeting of the presidents of the Baltic States with Secretary-General Guterres is also planned, as is a four-way meeting between the three Baltic heads of state and their Polish counterpart. Furthermore, President Karis is scheduled to meet with UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang and UN High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States Rabab Fatima, and to attend a reception hosted by US President Joe Biden.
While in New York, the Estonian head of state will also have a number of bilateral meetings with other counterparts, focussing on global partners. Moreover, he is scheduled to talk with representatives of US businesses, to open the new Honorary Consulate of Estonia in New York and to meet with local Estonians at Estonian House to commemorate the anniversary of the mass exodus of Estonians from their homeland in 1944.
President Karis’ wife Sirje Karis will be taking part in the programme for the spouses of the heads of state attending UN General Assembly week. Estonia will be co-hosting a high-level event with Ukraine in which discussions on the situation of children will be led by Sirje Karis and Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Sirje Karis will also be attending a lunch meeting with US First Lady Jill Biden and a reception hosted by the wife of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. While in New York, Sirje Karis will also visit the mental health centre Fountain House.
