Foreign Minister Paet Opened the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership

26.01.2011

No. 24-E

At the opening of the the Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership today, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised that the centre will give Estonia and other European Union member states a very good opportunity to contribute to the development of the Eastern Partners—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, and Ukraine—and help to strengthen relations between these nations and the European Union.

Foreign Minister Paet stated that the goal of the activities of the Centre of Eastern Partnership is to strengthen the administrative capabilities of the public sector in Eastern Partner states and share reform experiences with them. “Over the past ten years, Estonia has given instruction based on its own reform experiences to hundreds of officials from our Eastern Partners,” Paet stated. “The opening of the Centre of Eastern Partnership will allow us to support our Eastern Partners even more effectively in their integration with the European Union and the implementation of reforms,” he added.

Paet stated that the centre will organise instructional seminars for state officials and diplomats of the Eastern Partners, as well as training programmes for young diplomats and research activities on the topic of Eastern Partnership. The centre will increase the ability of the nations involved in the partnership project to hold negotiations and to co-operate with the European Union and its institutions.

The Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership is being funded by the Foreign Ministry. The centre also receives support from the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA) and the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

For Estonia the Eastern Partnership states are a priority not only politically and economically, but also as partners for development co-operation.

Additional information on the Centre of Eastern Partnership: http://www.eceap.eu

SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE
+372 637 7654