President Lennart Meri had a meeting with Martti Ahtisaari, President of the Republic of Finland, who was on a one-day working visit to Estonia, this morning in Kadriorg. The téte-a-téte meeting of the Presidents was followed by a meeting between the delegations of two countries, where the enlargement of European Union and NATO and the increasing importance of the Nordic Dimension of Europe were discussed.

President Ahtisaari emphasised that, speaking of the EU enlargement, both the Member States and Candidate States should give more attention to economic issues, not only political issues.

President Meri informed President Ahtisaari of his meetings with the leaders of NATO and the European Commission in Brussels last week, and of his meeting with the Prime Minister of Spain. President Meri confirmed that Estonia strongly supports the acceptance of both Latvia and Lithuania to the EU enlargement negotiations, and mentioned that the External Affairs Commissioner Hans van der Broek had appreciated Latvia's success. As Ahtisaari said, all countries invited to negotiations must continue their homework. He also mentioned the importance of informing the population about the European Union, which has been proved by the Finnish experience.

On the Meeting of the Presidents, the situation in Russia and other issues of international life were also discussed.

President Lennart Meri invited President Ahtisaari lunch in Kadriorg.

In the afternoon, the two Presidents will address the seminar ''By the will of Tacitus'' that was initiated by Lennart Meri, and speak of the contacts of the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea cultural spaces. Before the departure flight of President Ahtisaari, the two Presidents will have a meeting with journalists at the National Library at 15.45.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, November 12, 1998

back | archive of press releases | main page