PRESS RELEASE, October 7, 1997.

Austria's Ambassador says good-by to the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Mart Siimann met today with Austria's AmbassadorWendelin Ettmayer, who has been at his post since December 1994and resides in Helsinki.

Siimann and Ettmayer agreed that Estonian-Austrian relations aregood and rich with prospects.
To date, Enn Vels has served asAustria's honorary consul in Estonia, but Austria will open anembassy in Tallinn at the end of October.

The Austrian Ambassador expressed pleasure over Estonia beinginvited to start accession negotiations with the European Union(EU). He said that since Austria became EU member on January 1,1995, it has paid great attention to strong economic and politicalrelations with EU countries as well as with countries neighboringEU. As an example, the Ambassador cited Austrian-Finnish relations.

Siimann and Ettmayer agreed that Estonian and Austrian businessmen'sinterest in working together has grown. Ettmayer said that Austriahas 4000 joint-ventures in Hungary, 2500 joint-ventures in theCzech Republic, and in Estonia there are about 200 joint-ventures. He hoped that when Estonia becomes an EU member, the number ofjoint-ventures will increase.

Siimann said that Estonia's economy has been doing very well inrecent years. Speaking about joining EU, Siimann said that Estoniaunderstands that possible membership in EU means a lot of workfor Estonia in the near future. Siimann expressed hope that visa-freetravel between Estonia and Austria will soon be a reality.