Paet Discussed Iceland’s Accession to EU and Afghanistan Elections with Baltic and Nordic Colleagues
22.08.2009
While talking about the accession of Iceland into the European Union
during the meeting of the foreign ministers of the Nordic and Baltic
countries (NB8 – Nordic-Baltic 8) in Reykjavik, Foreign Minister Urmas
Paet emphasised that EU enlargement in Northern Europe is a welcome
development. Paet stated that Estonia is prepared to support in any way
possible the accession negotiations with Iceland, which are to begin
soon, and Iceland’s accession to the EU. “I am pleased that Icelandic
experts are already becoming familiar with Estonia’s accession
experience, and we hope that we can support them with our advice
throughout the entire accession negotiation process,” said Foreign
Minister Paet.
At their meeting, the foreign ministers also
addressed the elections that took place in Afghanistan on 20 August.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the elections held the day
before yesterday play an essential role in the formation of
Afghanistan’s future. “The presidential and provincial council
elections carried out by the state authorities are a clear indication
of the firm desire of the Afghan people to continue building up their
own state,” said Paet.
The foreign ministers of the Nordic and
Baltic countries also talked at the meeting about matters related to
the Arctic. Foreign Minister Urmas Paet acknowledged that regardless of
how far away it is, issues relating to the Arctic are of global
importance and have an effect on the countries in our region. “Since
globally important environmental and security issues are tied to the
Arctic, increasing the role of the European Union with regards to the
Arctic is essential, as is achieving observer status for the European
Union in the Arctic Council,” Paet noted.
The Arctic Council
is a high-level inter-governmental forum with the goal of developing
co-operation, co-ordination and interaction among the Arctic nations.
The member states are Canada, Denmark (along with the Faroe Islands and
Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the USA.
There are also observer nations and organisations involved in the
Council.
The ministers also discussed questions of energy
security. During the meeting they agreed that in order to increase
energy security, it is necessary to create additional energy
connections among the Baltic and Nordic countries and to establish a
common Nordic-Baltic energy market. “An important milestone in moving
towards this goal was the creation and approval of the Baltic Energy
Market Interconnection Plan (BEMP),” said Paet. Foreign Minister Paet
also emphasised that in order to create a common Nordic-Baltic energy
market, a more powerful Estlink2 must be built in addition to the
existing Estlink1 between Estonia and Finland.
