From 31 August to 1 September, Jonatan Vseviov, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was on a visit to Finland to attend a meeting of the secretaries general of Nordic and Baltic foreign ministries. The meeting covered current regional and global foreign policy topics.
The traditional meeting of secretaries general of Nordic and Baltic (NB8) foreign ministries addressed the situation in Afghanistan, Estonia’s membership and cooperation with Norway in the UN Security Council, cooperation in the OSCE and the activities of the Arctic Council.
“I was glad to note that the cooperation of NB8 in our priority areas remains close and efficient, and we are on course towards our shared goals. I spoke to my counterparts about our successes in the Security Council – we have introduced cybersecurity into the agenda of the Council and kept the focus on issues concerning the security of our region, such as the situation in Belarus and Crimea. Our cooperation with fellow NB8 country Norway has been excellent in general and as penholders for Afghanistan, which currently needs urgent attention,” Vseviov said.
The secretaries general also discussed the Eastern Partnership, the situation in Belarus and Ukraine, as well as China, and technology and security.
“We are closely following the situation and developments in Belarus because the hybrid attacks by the Lukashenko regime against European Union member states must end. To keep the focus on Belarus, Estonia plans to hold an Arria-formula meeting at the UN Security Council in October,” Vseviov said.
The meeting concluded with a visit to the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats.
Additional information:
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