EMFA

This coming week a training session organised in co-operation by the Foreign Ministry and the Estonian School of Diplomacy will begin in Tallinn. During the training, ten diplomats from Afghanistan will be introduced to Estonia’s experiences in building up a foreign service and be given an overview of the various aspects of international communication.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the training has been in the works for a long time and is based on Estonia’s own experiences with building up a nation and its institutions. “Afghanistan is Estonia’s development co-operation partner country. The main focus of Estonia’s civilian co-operation with Afghanistan is on developing health care, education, and good administrative practice,” said Paet. “The goal of Estonia and of the international community is for the Afghans to begin accepting more and more responsibility for the development of their state. Building up the state and the foreign service is one essential component of helping to increase the Afghan government’s capability to communicate with the international community,” he added.

In addition to topics related to building up a state and foreign service, the programme of the training session taking place from 10-18 June at the Estonian School of Diplomacy also includes courses on Estonia’s experiences in transatlantic co-operation and communication with the EU and NATO. Topics like diplomacy and international negotiations, international law, diplomatic protocol, and EU and regional co-operation will also be addressed. There will be lectures as well as seminars and meetings with representatives from various Estonian institutions.

The Estonian School of Diplomacy has had multi-faceted co-operation with Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia since 2003, organising scholarship programmes and training courses for their diplomats and state officials. The Estonian School of Diplomacy has also trained diplomats from Iraq and Kosovo.

Funding for the training of the Afghan diplomats comes from the Foreign Ministry’s budget for development and humanitarian aid.

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