President Karis feels that the two countries could do more to further the development of offshore wind farms and to link the Estonian and Finnish gas and electricity markets.
The head of state said that as one of Finland’s neighbouring presidents he is very pleased to see how well the country has coped with the coronavirus crisis, praising its politicians for adopting and maintaining a consistent line in their communication regarding vaccination – which has clearly contributed to the fact that the proportion of the Finnish population that has been inoculated is much higher than the same figure in Estonia. Finland is set to achieve an 80% vaccination rate by the start of November, and the Finnish government has promised to bring all restrictions to an end once this rate is reached among everyone aged 12 and over.
President Karis remarked that Finland has been very successful in building bridges between major players in world politics and contributing to balanced dialogue.
During their meeting, the Estonian and Finnish heads of state also discussed developments in the Arctic region, European security, Finland’s actions as the current presiding country in the field of Nordic-Baltic cooperation and support for Estonian and Finnish initiatives in international organisations.
While in Helsinki today, President Karis also visited the newly renovated Estonian embassy and the ‘Enigma of Painting’ exhibition of the works of Estonian artist Konrad Mägi. This evening he will be meeting with promoters of cooperation between Estonia and Finland and giving interviews to the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper and the television channel MTV3.
Tomorrow the head of state will continue his first official foreign visit by travelling to Lithuania.
