PETALING JAYA: Estonia's former prime minister Taavi Roivas has apologised for the improper conduct of members his trade delegation during a party at a bar in Kuala Lumpur last month.
Roivas released a statement Thursday where he admitted that there had been complaints about him, according to Estonian portal err.ee.
He apologised “personally and in the name of all of the delegation” to all those "who felt bad after the incident." He also added an apology to his wife and children.
Roivas was leading a trade delegation for 10 days to Singapore and Malaysia from Sept 18.
Roivas was accompanied by his wife Luisa, who left for a holiday in Bali on Sept 20 while he carried on with the delegation.
The Baltic News Service reported that four ministers in the Estonian government on Thursday wanted those in the trade delegation to explain themselves.
The ministers were reacting to an article that appeared in daily Eesti Päevaleht on Thursday morning that described the behaviour of the delegation members at the bar following the conclusion of official business.
It reported that several of the delegation members, including Riigikogu’s deputy speaker and Roivas, behaved improperly towards women present.
It also reported that Prime Minister Jüri Ratas commented that during the foreign visits that he had taken part in, parties “in the described form definitely did not take place”.
“In this case those who went there have to give clear and specific answers,” Ratas said.
Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Kadri Simson said that she had never encountered anything of the like on her numerous foreign visits.
“I believe that this case is very exceptional, and based on it no generalizations can be made as regards our usual behavior abroad,” Simson said, adding that the person at the focus of the scandal should come forward so that the reputation of the rest of the participants wouldn’t be tarnished.
Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/news...