The head of state added that small countries, Estonia among them, must make smart choices in terms of where they establish foreign representations, but once decided they must do everything to ensure that they are not embarrassed by the conditions in which their diplomats work.
President Karis noted that the new Estonian embassy building was being opened in Ottawa at the same time as the Canadian government announced the opening of a full diplomatic representation in Tallinn. “That is a sign of the growing importance of relations between Estonia and Canada and will enable us to move forward even more effectively in many fields of cooperation, from security and defence to energy, from natural resources to media freedom and from Arctic regions to their indigenous populations,” he said.
The head of state gifted the embassy with an Anu Raud handwoven rug which the artist herself describes as a work of graphic design in the traditional Mulgi style of Central Estonia.
Also attending the opening of the new embassy building were Canadian Assistant Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sandra McCardell, Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces Martin Herem and representatives of the Canadian Defence Forces.
The building which is home to the new embassy was constructed in 1875 and is under heritage protection. It is situated in one of the Canadian capital’s oldest districts, along with many other embassies: nearby are to be found those of Austria, Brazil, Croatia and Poland. The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs purchased the building in February 2018 for 868,000 euros, spending a further 1.83 million euros on construction work for the embassy. This work was completed in 2021, but the official opening was postponed until this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
