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Prime Minister meets with Jordanian Energy Minister
03.09.2010
Tallinn, Stenbock House, 2 September 2010 – Prime Minister Andrus Ansip met with Khalid Irani, the minister for energy and natural resources from the Kingdom of Jordan, and the delegation accompanying him at the Stenbock House today. The main aim of the Jordanian delegation’s visit to Estonia is to learn more about the country’s oil shale industry. Estonia and Jordan are working closely together in the field of oil shale. In May this year, during Prime Minister Ansip’s official visit to Jordan, an agreement was signed by the two countries granting Eesti Energia exclusive rights to investigate options for the production of oil and electricity from local oil shale. The Estonian prime minister stressed during the visit that Jordan is a key partner for Estonia in the Middle East.
“Working together the way we have has really borne fruit,” said Ansip. “The agreement we signed up to in spring is a really important partnership project for us, and I hope it proves beneficial to both Jordan and Estonia.”
Irani said that the Jordanian delegation’s visit to Estonia to learn more about the oil shale industry had proven very constructive and that they were highly optimistic about the future of the partnership between the two countries.
“We’ve now seen how your oil shale industry works and how big it really is,” Irani explained. “And there’s no reason for our cooperation in this field to be the only area we work together in as two nations. We can learn a lot from Estonia in building up our own e-government, for example, and we should definitely strengthen our intercultural and tourism ties.”
The Estonian prime minister and Jordanian energy minister also discussed foreign policy issues, in particular the peace talks that have launched between Israel and Palestine in Washington. Jordanian King Abdullah II has been invited to Washington for the event.
Irani says it is crucial that the talks produce concrete results, since the fate of Palestine is of key importance to the entire region.
Ansip says Estonia shares Jordan’s position that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would be a step towards an all-encompassing peace in the Middle East.
“I hope the talks produce a solution that satisfies both sides,” Ansip said. “Estonia’s position is that regulation of the conflict must be based on a two-state solution.”
Also at the meeting, Prime Minister Ansip gave the Jordanian delegation an overview of Estonia’s economic policy and the state of the country’s economy today.
Photos of the Jordanian delegation’s visit to the Stenbock House are available on the government’s website at http://www.valitsus.ee/?id=6570.
Israel and Estonia to foster cooperation in IT field
01.09.2010
Tallinn, Stenbock House, 31 August 2010 – Prime Minister Andrus Ansip confirmed at his meeting with Israeli State Minister Michael Eitan that Estonia is prepared to work more closely with Israel in the field of information technology.
“I really hope your visit reinforces cooperation between Estonia and Israel in the area of IT,” the prime minister said. The Israeli state minister, who is visiting Estonia specifically to find out more about its IT achievements, was introduced to the e-government information system, which has now been in use in the country for ten years. “Not only are e-solutions convenient and economical in terms of the time they save you, but they also save taxpayers’ money,” Ansip explained.
State Minister Eitan says that there is a range of well-developed e-solutions in the private sector in Israel, but that their use in the private sector in the country is much more modest. “We hold Estonia’s experience in this field in great esteem,” he said. The issue of the security of Internet-based services was also raised at the meeting. The prime minister confirmed that people’s privacy is protected in Estonia and that any breach of it is considered a crime.
Prime Minister Ansip and State Minister Eitan stated that relations and cooperation between their two countries were at a very good level. Ansip reminded those present that on 10 May both Estonia and Israel were invited to join the OECD. “That’s a mark of quality for us both,” he said. “The OECD is a forum of democratic states where we can share our experiences and plan further cooperation.”
During his visit, which comes to an end today, the Israeli state minister also had meetings at the E-Government Academy, where he learnt more about Estonia’s e-health project and e-elections. Eitan also met with Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts.
Estonia’s e-state solutions are widely held in high regard. The country is currently assisting Azerbaijan and Albania in building up their own e-states, and preparations for such cooperation are ongoing with a number of other countries. Leading IT figures from almost 40 countries have taken part in the E-Government Academy training programme.
Pictures from the meeting are available online at http://www.valitsus.ee/?id=10484.
Joint statement of the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defence and the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the death of Junior Sergeant Herdis Sikka in Afghanistan
30.08.2010
The loss of Junior Sergeant Herdis Sikka is a tragedy it is hard to put into words; it is impossible to appreciate, let alone describe, the pain his family and friends must be feeling. The loss of a son and brother is as unjust as it is unimaginable. Let us bow our heads today in solidarity with the Sikka family, Herdis’ friends and colleagues, and his nation.
Junior Sergeant Sikka was a bold, brave soldier and a much-respected colleague. Today, luck abandoned him; and although it should never have happened, he fell in the line of duty. In doing so, he made the ultimate sacrifice: giving his life for our security and for a better and safer future for us all.
We would like the Sikka family to know that their son and brother’s work represented an invaluable contribution to ensuring the future security of Estonia.
NATO’s mission in Afghanistan – the organisation’s most important foreign mission – has met with success and given rise to hope in some of the country’s most challenging regions. The sense of security founded by Junior Sergeant Sikka and his Estcoy-10 colleagues has made it possible for the residents of Helmand province to once again hold market days outside of the Wahid patrol base. Local tribal chiefs and the Afghan army meet regularly with our soldiers, who are working to improve the roads in their area of jurisdiction.
The reason Estonian soldiers are serving in Afghanistan alongside coalition forces is to help get the nation on its feet – to ensure a safe life for its citizens and to provide them with education and medical assistance. Every country that enjoys peace increases the sense of security among the people of Estonia. This is the end Herdis was working towards in Afghanistan, along with the tens of thousands of other allied soldiers stationed in the country – the security of their homelands.
The news of any soldier’s death brings pain and sorrow. Today, Estonia shares in the grief of the family and friends of Junior Sergeant Sikka. We will never forget out heroes.
Tallinn, 30 August 2010
Andrus Ansip
Prime Minister
Jaak Aaviksoo
Minister of Defence
Urmas Paet
Minister of Foreign Affairs
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