Estonian, Russian PMs to focus on bilateral relations at Friday's meeting

Photo: SCANPIX

Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said on Thursday that bilateral relations will be at the top of the agenda of his meeting with the head of the Russian government, Dmitry Medvedev, that is planned for Friday.

"We have no plans to agree on some concrete matter and sign some agreement. At such meetings dealing with relations between countries has great value in itself. It will probably be this kind of a meeting at which both sides suggest steps to improve relations, intensify economic relations and develop political relations," Ansip said at the government's press conference.

The prime minister stressed that since the meeting will take place on the fringes of the Council of the Baltic Sea States summit in St. Petersburg it will probably be brief and the issues will not be dealt with in depth.

"I'm glad that such a meeting is on the agenda, but there is no reason for deep regret if it does not take place merely because the main meeting overruns the time frame," Ansip said.

Ansip has met with Medvedev before, most recently at the EU-Asian summit in Vientiane last November. Prior to that they met during the London Olympic Games and on the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The prime minister said that the present state of Estonian-Russian economic relations is the best in the last two decades, observing that exports to Russia which accounted for 2.4 percent of Estonia's total exports in 2000 now make up 12 percent of the total. The number of Russian tourists too has grown significantly in recent years, increasing by 37 percent in 2012 and up to 50 percent annually in previous years. The main reason for this is Estonia's accession to the Schengen visa space which has considerably eased visiting Estonia for Russian tourists, he said.

Political relations too have developed relatively well and several high-level visits have taken place in the last few years, Ansip stated. "Several Estonian ministers have been to Moscow and St. Petersburg and a number of bilateral agreements has been signed. All presidents of Estonia - Lennart Meri, Arnold Ruutel and Toomas Hendrik Ilves - have visited Russia more than once."

Ansip's meeting with Medvedev is scheduled  for Friday afternoon.