On Tuesday, September 13, under the auspices of the Second Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Embassy took the liberty of inviting the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Mr Urmas Reinsalu, and the ambassadors of the European Union member states to a working lunch. The meeting was an excellent opportunity to strengthen good mutual relations, exchange information and discuss the crucial challenges of the current months.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Urmas Reinsalu, presented the current top priorities of Estonian foreign policy and the Estonian government. In his speech, he emphasised several topics on the European Union’s agenda, particularly the importance of supporting Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions on the Russian Federation, such as the suspension of issuing visas to Russian citizens. The need to solve the energy crisis is also closely related to the policy toward Russia. On the one hand, Estonia participates in the search for a common proposal at the plenary session of the European Union. Still, at the same time, it hopes that the specifics of the individual member states will make it possible to search for variable solutions as well. One of the scenarios promoted by Estonia is the complete stoppage of Russian gas imports, which should be the next step towards the complete isolation of the Russian Federation. Apart from questions related to the events in Ukraine, Minister Reinsalu also mentioned the importance of the enlargement of the European Union.

Minister Reinsalu also mentioned the conclusions from the extraordinary meeting of the Council for Transport, Telecommunications and Energy (TTE Council), which took place on September 9 and was devoted to energy. Its conclusion was several appeals to the European Commission regarding ​​short-term and long-term solutions to high energy prices. Minister Reinsalu also mentioned the informal meeting of foreign ministers of the European Union, which took place on August 31 in Prague, the so-called Gymnich. The topic of this meeting was mainly Russian aggression in Ukraine, its global consequences and other sanctions against the Russian Federation, and its result was, for example, the cancellation of the European-Russian visa agreement.

After Minister Reinsalu's speech, the ambassadors were given the opportunity to ask their questions and start a joint discussion, which also allowed for an exchange of views on several topics. The questions mainly concerned a coordinated stance towards Russia, support for Ukraine, including post-war reconstruction, and policy towards China. The discussion also covered domestic policy challenges, such as inflation or renewable energy sources.