Ex-president thanks contributors to Estonia's journey in UN Security Council

  • 2022-01-03
  • BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN - With Estonia concluding its elected membership in the UN Security Council on Friday, the country's former president Kersti Kaljulaid thanked Estonia’s permanent representative to the UN Sven Jurgenson and the entire team for their contribution.

"We created this opportunity together, but you brought to fruition in a way that enabled both Estonia and the world to benefit from it. The foundation has now been laid, Estonia has joined the other Nordic states. We're all internationally active defenders of a rules-based world order because this world order is crucial for us persisting as a state," Kaljulaid wrote on social media.

"Among other things, your turn to defend it also involved challenging the wish of our largest ally, the United States, to proceed on the matter of Iran in disregard of earlier agreements. You prevented this from happening. As we agreed and as we had promised to those who elected us member of the Security Council, we were always guided, including on this complicated occasion, by international law and prior agreements, and by the European Union's joint position, if necessary," Kaljulaid said. 

"We knew that by doing so, even if we had to challenge an opinion by one of our allies, it would not damage our allied relations because our position was the only possible position for a small state," Kaljulaid said.

Kaljulaid noted that Estonia had been successful at fulfilling its most complicated electoral promise, which was bringing cyber issues to the Security Council. It was established that the cyber dimension, as a part of conventional conflict, must be included in the Security Council's agenda.

"We did not hesitate to assume ownership for complex matters, such as Afghanistan, which proved the most painful disappointment over these two years, as well as Belarus and Ukraine," Kaljulaid said, adding that hopefully, Estonia and its allies will be able to benefit from the lessons learned in the Security Council for a long time.

Kaljulaid also thanked Estonian MEP Urmas Paet for promoting the idea of Estonia's UNSC membership, which at the time seemed preposterous and unreachable, 15 years ago. She also thanked the advisory board convened for Estonia's Security Council campaign as well as the leaders of the campaign, particularly Daniel Schaer and Margus Kolga.

"I believe that them as well as all of our diplomats involved in this work can be pleased with what we have achieved," the former president said.