Travel warning alert

TALLINN - Estonian officials say that the travel warning issued by the U.S. government for Middle East and North African countries should be taken seriously by Estonian residents who reside in these regions or plan to travel there, reports Public Broadcasting. Riigikogu foreign committee chairman Marko Mihkelson said that the unprecedented step by the U.S. – to close diplomatic representations in 22 countries because of possible terrorism danger, should be taken very seriously since the danger is not targeted just at citizens of the U.S.

“The activities of Al-Qaeda are not only targeted against the presence of the United States of America, but also against the presence of its allies, the Western states’ presence in the Arab peninsula, the Middle East but now after the Arabian Spring also in northern Africa more widely,” said Mihkelson. “Thus certainly the news that Germany, France, England have closed their embassies shows that the danger is not targeted only against citizens of the United States.”

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet recommended that Estonian citizens who like to travel to that region be careful. “People who plan to travel to that region should very carefully observe the events, observe the news and look at the Foreign Ministry homepage, for example, for warnings about specific states where they should not go to at all,” he said.