President Lennart Meri received Mr Petr Pithart, the Speaker of the Senate of the Czech Republic, at Kadriorg today. The Czech parliamentary delegation is on a visit to Estonia because the Czech Republic is interested in closer coordination of activities before accession to the European Union.

The Speaker of the Czech Senate stressed at the meeting with the Estonian head of state that he favours the idea of opening a diplomatic mission of the Czech Republic in Tallinn, yet the opening of embassies is not among the powers of the Speaker.

A significant topic at the meeting was the cooperation of the Baltic States, which the representatives of the Czech Republic described as impressive, considering how well the three countries are able to support and promote one another with due account of each country's peculiarities. President Meri affirmed that after the decision passed in Luxembourg the cooperation of the Baltic countries had gained a new motivation. According to Mr Meri, it is necessary to bear in mind that for moving towards NATO the cooperation of the three is even more important than for EU membership, since the European Union takes into account individual qualities of each country. The Czech representatives called such an approach very welcome, especially considering their own concern about how Slovakia should be embraced in the new structures as well as about the issues of NATO membership for Rumania and Slovenia.

Speaking of relations between Estonia and Russia, Petr Pithart, who will visit Russia next week, pointed out that Estonia is in a difficult situation because of the unsettled border issue. President Meri said there had been some positive shifts, but what is needed to sign the border agreement is political will. He mentioned that there were signs of Russia's increased interest in the border agreement owing toEstonia's new status in the EU enlargement process. ''The situation is neither delicate nor difficult; the most important thing is that the Estonian-Russian border is under control,'' said President Meri.

The home issues of both countries were also touched upon at the meeting. The Speaker of the Czech Senate mentioned that both Estonia and the Czech Republic are having a minority government There was some deliberation about the role of political parties and their development; according to President Meri, in Estonia there is consensus over major goals, which enables a minority government to cope, albeit some processes are slower for that matter.

President Meri asked the Czech parliamentary delegation, proceeding from Tallinn to Riga and Vilnius, to pass on his regards to President Guntis Ulmanis of Latvia and President Algirdas Brazauskas of Lithuania.


Information Service of the President's Office
Kadriorg, 10 February 1998

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