Estonian, Czech parlt speakers talk about ensuring data security in e-state

TALLINN - During a video meeting on Wednesday, speaker of the Riigikogu Juri Ratas and the president of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Radek Vondracek, discussed developing of e-governance services and ensuring security in the use of digital data.  

At the beginning of the meeting, Ratas emphasized that Estonia and the Czech Republic enjoy excellent mutual relations, and recalled that this year is a special year in the relations between  the two countries, as they celebrated 100 years since the establishment and 30 years since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations, spokespeople for the Riigikogu said.

Ratas expressed hope that it is possible to do even more in the field of digital cooperation.

The speaker of the Czech parliament noted that their country is interested in developing e-services and in the experiences of the Estonian X-Road.

Ratas talked about the importance of the security of data use, and about cybersecurity in a wider context. He described the participation of the Czech Republic in the NATO Cyber Security Center of Excellence in Tallinn as another good example of fruitful cooperation.

The speaker of the Riigikogu thanked the Czech Republic for their contribution to ensuring the security of our region and for the contribution of Czech troops to NATO's enhanced Forward Presence in Lithuania. Ratas described the first air policing mission of the Czech Air Force at Amari Air Base as historic, and said that Estonia would be very grateful if the Czech Republic again participated in the Baltic air policing mission.

Ratas invited his Czech counterpart to participate in the Three Seas Parliamentary Forum, which will take place in Estonia in June. Ratas said that since the Three Seas Initiative (3SI) has evolved as a practical cooperation format, it is important to also increase cooperation between parliaments.

"We see an opportunity for the parliaments in facilitating achieving the practical goals of the Three Seas Initiative," he said. "Wider involvement of parliaments can also add an important contribution to raising the visibility of the format and provides an excellent opportunity to reconfirm the countries' commitment to the format."

The speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies gave an overview of the latest developments in relations with Russia. Ratas assured his counterpart that Estonia follows the situation closely.

"Estonia has expressed its solidarity and full support to the Czech Republic. We think that with its actions, Russia have manifestly violated Czechia's sovereignty," the speaker of the Estonian parliament added.