NATO expanding to northern shores of Baltic Sea good for security - Estonian president

  • 2023-02-07
  • LETA/BNS/TBT Staff

TALLINN – Meeting with Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Kadriorg on Tuesday, Estonian President Alar Karis said that Estonia fully supports Sweden's rapid accession to NATO.

"NATO's enlargement to the northern shores of the Baltic Sea is in the strategic interests of the alliance and the security of the Baltic Sea region as a whole," Karis said. He added that Estonia and Sweden work closely on defense and security issues.

The Swedish prime minister gave President Karis an overview of how Sweden's NATO accession process is going.

"Estonia and Sweden think and act in a similar way, we need to find ways to strengthen the Nordic-Baltic identity and cooperation that unites us. When made together, the efforts of the countries of our region are more effective in ensuring the security of our region, as well as in supporting Ukraine in its fight to regain its freedom and the territory occupied through Russia's aggression," Karis said.

The Estonian president and the Swedish premier considered it important to pay more attention to strengthening educational and scientific ties. The Estonian head of state is planning to travel to the Swedish cities of Lund and Malmo with a delegation of researchers, entrepreneurs and university rectors at the beginning of April for meetings focusing on the promotion of cooperation between Estonia and Sweden in the fields of science, education and innovation.

Sweden holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of this year.