Estonia’s new government immediately fell into the middle of a big problem framework, but at least the quarrel over the definition of marriage ended when the populist party Ekre fell out of government.
Estonia with the new Foreign Minister Eva-Maria at Liimets could be an easier start in his job, but now he is not living in easy times.
Liimets, who had served as foreign minister since Tuesday last week, was considering making his first mission to the southern neighbor of Latvia, but going there was not arranged due to the severe coronavirus epidemic in Latvia.
A suitable, familiar and even safe destination was found in the north, where the corona situation is in better shape, but which is of particular concern to Estonians. On Wednesday last week, Finland decided to significantly tighten the access of Estonians to the country.
Looking east does not cause joy either. Russia is a confused opposition politician Alexei Navalnyin following the arrest demonstrations because of.
Estonia, too, has been in the grip of political turmoil, leading to the collapse of the government and hopefully more serene times. At least now, Estonians do not have to think for a moment about who their marriage is, but we will return to it later.
Glue met last Friday on his fourth anniversary with the president Sauli Niinistö and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Pekka Haaviston (green) in Helsinki. At the forefront of the discussions was the covid-19 pandemic, which has hit Estonia harder than Finland: roughly as many infections have been recorded in Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million, as in Finland, with a population of 5.5 million, about 45,000.
Last Wednesday, Finland began applying restrictions, which allow only cross-border commuting, such as that which is important for the functioning of society or security of supply, until 25 February.
Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets arrived to meet with Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto at the state guest house last Friday.
This directly affected the lives of tens of thousands of Estonian commuters. Some are stuck in their home country, others in Finland.
Liimets says that he understands Finland’s decision, and as a decent diplomat, he congratulates Finland on its success in controlling the corona epidemic. However, he would like Finland and Estonia to be able to find ways to ease travel restrictions.
“Our infection rates are somewhat higher, but we think the situation is under government control. The situation in our hospitals is good, and we are not in a situation where there would not be enough beds for everyone, ”he described the disease situation in Estonia in an interview with HS on Friday night.
I glued predecessor as Foreign Minister, Urmas Reinsalu, said a good week ago To HSthat Estonia could test its citizens when they return to Estonia and make a new departure to Finland, which would reduce Finland ‘s testing burden.
According to Liimets, the proposal is still under consideration and could be attended by shipping companies. According to him, Estonia is willing to apply a model in which shipping is treated as strictly as air transport: people tested negative could travel.
According to the Minister, the Finnish and Estonian authorities are looking for ways to alleviate the situation from a comprehensive toolkit with the help of a joint working group. According to him, it would be possible for the two effectively digitized countries to use common databases to manage the coronary situation, as there are already common electronic prescriptions between the countries.
However, Liimets said many things are still unformed. Like how people who have once been vaccinated or who have already had the disease are treated. According to him, by the end of last week, about two percent of the Estonian population had received their first dose of vaccine.
“No one wants the virus to continue to spread. We definitely understand the concerns about the spread of the virus, and our proposals take that into account, ”he said.
Like many younger Estonians, Liimets does not speak Finnish but gave the interview in English. He also speaks fluent German, Italian and Russian.
Because Liimets is the foreign minister, it was natural to ask him what concern the Russians are causing in the Estonian protests. They originated when opposition politician Alexei Navalnyi, who had survived the poisoning attempt, returned to his country and was arrested.
He gave the Estonian politician a natural answer that could not be heard from the Finnish Minister.
“Any kind of instability in our neighboring countries raises security concerns. But Estonians, of course, rely on their safety [sotilasliitto] NATO and transatlantic relations. And in this respect, we feel safe and look forward to the next NATO summit, ”Liimets said.
Liimets did not yet want to take a position on whether the European Union should quickly pursue a tougher sanctions policy against Russia or its authorities. I saw the Baltic countries require together before the new Estonian government came to power.
“Because I’m only four days in office, I do not want to go into detail,” Liimets said.
If is turbulent in Russia, so it has been tasted in Estonian politics, albeit in a democratic framework. The country took power at the beginning of last week when the Prime Minister of the Center Party Jüri Rataksen the government had collapsed due to suspicions of corruption against his own party.
Ratas led his government with the right-wing conservative Fatherland Party and the right-wing populist Ekre. The center is also involved in the new government, but now the market-liberal reform party, which won the 2019 election and was left out of the previous government, is in charge.
The Prime Minister of Estonia is the Reform Party Kaja Kallas, Estonia the first female prime minister. In addition, the President of Estonia is a woman Kersti Kaljulaid. And so the foreign minister is a woman, the Liimets of the Center Party.
By the way, Liimets, 46, is not a career politician but a career diplomat. He was asked to serve as Foreign Minister from Prague, where he has been the country’s ambassador since 2017.
Estonian Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets was photographed in Helsinki during her visit to the Foreign Ministry on Friday.
Estonia such a combination of three powers at the top of power does not exist in any other country in the world. Thus, Estonia has made quite an image, as the previous government caused gray hair to those concerned about Estonia’s reputation, especially because of Ekre’s ministers.
Ekren Minister of the Interior Mart Helme for example, appointed the Prime Minister of Finland Sanna Marinia (sd) as a “sales girl” and fired anti-gay comments. His son, Minister of Finance Martin Helme was a representative of a similar speech culture. Son-Helme characterized the state of his country In an interview with HS a couple of years ago I said: “There is an attack on the soul of the Estonian nation. Attempts are being made to force a cultural Marxist ideology in Estonia: multiculturalism and homoagenda … There is an attack on being a man and a woman. ”
Father and son Helme caused a government crisis in November when they threw themselves in a joint radio appearance with the then President of the United States Donald Trumpin in support of allegations of electoral fraud. Pearl’s statements were feared to mess up relations with the United States and even threaten Estonia’s national security. Mart Helme resigned after the uproar of his mission.
New Foreign Minister Liimets says he hopes that Ekre’s move did not cause “any long-term harm” to Estonia’s international image.
“In my role as Foreign Minister, I can say that Estonia will continue its value-based foreign and security policy,” Liimets said.
Just before the previous Estonian government resigned, the country’s parliament was due to vote on Ekre’s draft marriage law. The party wanted a referendum in Estonia on whether marriage should be defined only as an institution between a man and a woman.
When Ekre fell out of power, the issue of the referendum disappeared from Estonian politics.
“Of course, it depends on the choices of the citizens in the next election, but it is not on the table of the current government,” Liimets says.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/hs-interview-estonias-new-foreign-minister-eva-maria-liimets-talks-about-russia-in-a-way-that-could-not-be-heard-from-a-finnish-minister/
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