President Lennart Meri received Werner Fasslabend, the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Austria, in Kadriorg today.

The President and the Austrian Minister of Defence discussed the architecture of the European security. The Austrian Minister of Defence emphasised that after the Cold War, the East European countries have a stabilizing role, and that Russia also would certainly be interested in having a stable zone of neighbouring countries.

On the meeting, the current situation in Russia was also analyzed, and the Estonian Head of State and the Austrian Minister of Defence exchanged experiences of their recent contacts with the representatives of Russia.

President Meri confirmed that the Estonian defence forces could benefit from close contacts with the Austrian defence forces, especially as Estonia and Austria have similar views on the role of the Border Guard. The Estonian President also suggested that Austria could consider co-operation with the Baltic Defence College in Tartu, also from the viewpoint of language teaching. As the Austrian Minister of Defence confirmed, the project is of interest to Austria.

On the meeting, the Austrian Minister of Defence also praised the Estonian border system to the Estonian Head of State.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, October 6, 1998

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