EMFA, 16.02.2011
During his meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle in Berlin, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that considering the changes in the world, the permanent membership of the UN Security Council should be adjusted and Germany should be made a member. “We support the reform of the UN Security Council and therefore consider the permanent membership of Germany, the biggest nation in Europe, a natural choice in a body that is responsible for security in the world,” said Paet. “We would also like for addition permanent positions to be given to the Eastern Europe group, since the number of members from this group has grown the most of the past 20 years.”

Foreign Minister Paet thanked Guido Westerwelle for Germany’s participation in the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states. “Thus far Germany has contributed more to Baltic air policing than any other nation, as it is participating in the mission for the fourth time,” Paet acknowledged. “We would also like support for extending the NATO air policing mission in the Baltic states from 2014 to 2018, and possibly after that as well,” he noted.

While talking about Estonia-Germany relations, Foreign Minister Paet expressed satisfaction that Germany is one of Estonia’s top five trading partners. Last year the total turnover of Estonia-Germany trade was over 1.3 billion EUR and export to Germany grew 13%.

Foreign Minister Westerwelle and Paet also spoke at the meeting about developments in Northern Africa and the Middle East. The foreign ministers emphasised that developments in Egypt will significantly impact the security and stability of the whole region, and therefore the goal for the near future should be to develop a comprehensive government in Egypt as the result of free elections. “The European Union should quickly work out a clear approach for supporting the transition process to democracy in our close neighbourhood,” said Paet.

While addressing matters related to the European Union, Paet noted that similarly to Germany, Estonia also shares the view that the size of the EU budget for the years 2014-2020 should not increase. “However, financing should still reflect the political priorities of the European Union—for example, enlargement and the fight against poverty,” he stated.

According to Paet, Estonia feels that Germany and France’s initiative to increase the competitiveness of the euro zone is a positive thing. “All initiatives for ensuring the stability and trustworthiness of the euro are important to Estonia. The competitiveness of the euro zone as a whole should be enhanced,” he added.


SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE

Märkmed: