Government permits delegations necessary for Estonia’s foreign relations to enter the country in a simplified manner

Stenbock House, 27 August 2020 – Today, the Government decided to allow foreign delegations invited by local authorities to participate in official meetings to enter Estonia under a simplified procedure, if they take the necessary measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Starting on Friday, the heads, members and accompanying persons of foreign delegations – who are exhibiting no symptoms of illness and who arrive in Estonia for official working meetings or visits at the invitation of the authorities of the Republic of Estonia – will be granted unrestricted freedom of movement in Estonia. The change ensures the continuation of foreign relations that are so important for promoting Estonia’s interests.

At the same time, the organisers of official meetings are obliged to implement the measures in force in Estonia to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and, if necessary, to limit the size of delegations.

A similar regulation already applies, for example, to employees of diplomatic missions or consular posts and their family members, as well as to foreigners arriving in Estonia during the course of international military cooperation.

As a second change, the government decided to harmonise the rules that apply when arriving in Estonia for an unavoidable family reason.

Starting on 1 September, in urgent cases, people who have taken at least one coronavirus test upon arriving in Estonia, which has come back negative, may participate in urgent family events. A family event of this type may be, for example, a birth, funeral or other reasonable and unavoidable health event, such as visiting a person who has fallen ill.

When participating in unavoidable family events, all necessary measures must be taken to prevent the spread of the disease and contact with other people must be avoided as much as possible.