Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Legislation, Railways, Transport

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The leaders of the two countries discussed the fight against COVID-19, bilateral relations, regional connections, security cooperation and the situation in Belarus, government spokespeople said.

According to Ratas, fast and modern transport connections and interconnection of energy networks are key to the development of the region. "Our goal is to complete the Rail Baltic connection between Poland and Lithuania on time. It is also important to complete the synchronization of the electricity networks of the Baltic states with Europe by 2025, where connections via Poland are vital. I am very glad that the Connecting Europe Facility decided to support this project with more than 700 million euros, which will also help to build a new Polish-Lithuanian electricity connection," the prime minister said.

The Tallinn Digital Summit was also mentioned at the meeting. "The Smart Connectivity concept, which also works across national borders, is an important part of the Three Seas Summit. It is also the main topic of the next Tallinn Digital Summit," Ratas said.

Ratas and Duda also discussed defense cooperation. The Estonian prime minister thanked Poland for its important contribution to the security of the region. "I thank the Polish Air Force for their first participation in the Amari air policing mission earlier this year. Unfortunately, because of the pandemic, I couldn't visit Polish airmen in Amari personally with my Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki. These are real professionals who are always welcome back to Estonia," Ratas said.

The prime minister stated that the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between Poland and the United States, which Duda recently signed, is very important because it opens the door to a stronger U.S. military presence in Poland and hopefully contributes to a more visible U.S. military presence in the Baltics.

Ratas and Duda expressed concern over the escalation of violence in Belarus. "We need to increase support for Belarusian civil society, the media, and and youth. Last week, Estonia decided to support development cooperation projects in Belarus with 500,000 euros," Ratas said.

At the beginning of October, Estonia decided to invite its ambassador to Belarus to consultations in Tallinn, thus expressing solidarity with Poland and Lithuania which, due to pressure from Belarusian authorities, had to invite its ambassadors to consultations and significantly reduce the number of embassy staff.