Estonia, Finland call for EU common policy toward Russia
Deutsche Presse-Agentur (Germany)
April 23, 2008
Tallinn - The European Union should develop a common policy in its relationship with Russia, Estonian and Finnish foreign ministers said Wednesday. "The European Union is 15 times richer than Russia, its population is three times larger, and it spends seven times as much on the national defence. Strong Europe is in the interests of both Estonia and Finland," Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb told journalists during his first visit to the Baltic nation of Estonia.
"If the European Union wants to be taken seriously, it must speak with one voice," he said.
Estonia and Finland should be viewed as experts in relations with Russia, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet was quoted as saying by the online news portal rus.delfi.ee.
On his one-day visit to Estonia on Wednesday, Stubb will also meet Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and other officials to discuss bilateral relations, Baltic Sea region cooperation, the Lisbon Treaty, EU climate and energy policy, the Balkans and Afghanistan.
dcestonian@hotmail.com