Stenbock House, 24 August 2016 – Estonia's expertise in information technology and Germany’s industrial power must be pooled together into a driver for Europe, to give a new impetus to Europe’s economies; said Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas to German Chancellor Angela Merkel who arrived on a visit to Estonia today.
“European leaders are expected to focus on our real problems. People across Europe are concerned by military conflicts in the neighbourhoods of the EU, terrorism, stalled economies, increasing unemployment and migration,” said Prime Minister Rõivas. “With Europe in the throes of multiple crises and being faced with crucial choices; we need, in my view, a Europe that is more like Germany and I reiterate Estonia’s support for Germany in addressing our common concerns.”
According to Prime Minister Rõivas, a possible solution would be the pooling of Estonia’s expertise in information technology with Germany’s industrial power.
“I hope that my visit to Meseberg this spring and Chancellor Merkel’s visit to Tallinn today, lay the foundations for a specific cooperation between Estonia and Germany in the field of IT,” said Rõivas. “Estonian IT companies and experts are keen to cooperate with the Germans in order to find new solutions to boost our economies and improve the lives of our citizens.”
Security was one of the main priorities at today’s meeting between Prime Minister Rõivas and Chancellor Merkel, besides the Bratislava summit and Europe’s future. “Germany’s commitment to, and presence in our region are essential to us. Germany’s and Europe's security starts from here,” added the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas stressed that Europe should not forget Ukraine and must maintain a common and united approach regarding the sanctions against Russia. “The escalation of military actions in East Ukraine and the provocations in the Crimea indicate that, regrettably, Russia is not ready to resolve the conflict by peaceful means.
As long as Russia fails to honour the Minsk agreements, there can be no question of lifting the sanctions,” said Rõivas.
Prime Minister Rõivas underlined the importance of the good relations between Estonia and Germany that the two countries have developed in the last quarter of a century, which is difficult to measure and express in words. “Our views on the future of Europe, the need to reinforce security in NATO’s eastern flank and on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine are very similar,” added the Prime Minister.
Photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ridn4sadzjjiy17/AABqzQPB5y-GdXPnPH98TylDa?dl=0
Press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTsgAIoz55I
