On 16-20 January a group of 14 Ukrainian diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine were on a study visit to Tallinn and Helsinki. The week was intense and full of both formal and informal meetings on foreign and security policy, international relations, e-governance, cyber security, ICT, e-voting, and the priorities of Estonia’s Pesidency of the EU Council.
While visiting the MFA Estonia, the UA delegation had the pleasure of hearing from their Estonian colleagues about the priorities of the Estonian foreign policy and business diplomacy. At the Estonian Parliament and at the ICDS, the UA delegation were introduced to the Estonian perspective on the current security challenges in Europe and its neighbourhood. Mr Hannes Hanso, the Head of the National Defence Committee of Riigikogu, and Mr Ants Laaneots, the member of the Estonia-Ukraine parliamentary group in Riigikogu, went deep into discussion about the current security situation in Ukraine and future perspectives of it.
The top moment of the visit was the Ukrainian diplomat’s meeting with Mr Sven Mikser, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia. Minister Mikser underlined
the importance of ongoing bilateral relations between Estonia and Ukraine and acccentuated both Estonia’s and Europe’s continuous support to Ukraine in its reforms.
During the study trip the UA delegation visited also the Finnish MFA and the Helsinki based Crisis Management Initiative (CMI). The discussions focused on Finnish foreign policy, Finnish-Ukrainian bilateral relations and various conflict resolution cases currently on the table at CMI.
The visit of Ukrainian diplomats to Tallinn is financed by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the resources of Estonian development cooperation.
