Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Security, Society

Estonian Interior Minister Hanno Pevkur said after meeting his colleague Petteri Orpo that Estonia has a lot to learn from the sudden increase in refugee numbers in Finland and how the country coped with that, spokespeople for the Estonian Interior Ministry said.

"Finland has displayed the ability to quickly adapt and the ability to deal with a big number of refugees," Pevkur was quoted by spokespeople as saying. "Since the Finns are still having a tough time in spite of their good conduct, we agree that in reality the solution to the migration crisis lies in regaining control over the European external border and Turkey's actions. On the political level we have adopted the necessary decisions in Europe and now we have to implement the decisions as quickly as possible," he added.

The ministers also discussed other topics, like setting up the European border agency, changes to the Firearms Directive and guaranteeing an exchange of information between the two countries. The ministers recognized that they agree on most positions and cooperation between the two countries is very good.

The ministers also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation between the two countries. "Relations between Estonia and Finland are traditionally good, but we still find ways to improve the situation. For instance, we are at present discussing better information exchange of the population register. In addition, we agreed that to better spotlight our positions in Europe it would be reasonable to synchronize positions with all the Baltic and Nordic countries. It is in our interests to get more attention to our positions," Pevkur said.

In the afternoon the Finnish minister was shown the recently opened building of the rescue center on Osmussaare Street in Tallinn.