Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets met with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas

Yesterday 23 November, Foreign Minister Eva-Maria Liimets met with the Foreign Minister of Germany Heiko Maas to discuss the migration and hybrid attack issues of Belarus, Russia’s activity on the border with Ukraine, the Strategic Compass of the European Union and other European security topics. They also spoke about resilience and EU-China relations.

Discussing the shared view on solving the Belarusian crisis with her German counterpart, Foreign Minister Liimets underlined the importance of unity in the European Union. “For the hybrid actions by the Belarusian authorities to stop, it is crucial that the European Union continues to speak in one voice and with resolve. We must keep up international pressure to prevent the Belarusian authorities from using their recent steps to divert attention from their grave violations of human rights and international agreements and make them repatriate the people they have lured into the country with false promises. Our message to the Belarusian authorities has not changed — in addition to stopping the pressure on European Union borders, they must release political prisoners, allow the development of the civil society and free media and give their people a chance to decide their future in a democratic way,” Minister Liimets stressed.

Speaking about Russia’s actions on the border with Ukraine, Foreign Minister Liimets underlined that the further escalation of the situation would be extremely dangerous and would threaten the security of not only Ukraine but also Europe, which is why the European Union and its allies are closely following the developments there.

Both ministers reaffirmed the importance of cooperation between the European Union and NATO. “Both Estonia and Germany have a unified and unchanging position: NATO and a strong Euro-Atlantic bond are the cornerstone of security in Europe,” Foreign Minister Liimets said.

The discussion on resilience included the future of the excellent bilateral cooperation between Estonia and Germany, including preventing the spread of disinformation. Talking about the relations of the European Union and China, the ministers said they would like to see meetings where all member states have an equal role based on unity, common values and interests.

Additional information:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
Communication Department
[email protected]