Estonia: Heading West and Relating with the East

Meeting Report
March 15, 1999

Speaker: Lennart Meri, President of Estonia

Stressing the importance of Estonia’s role as a gateway between East and West as well as North and South, President Lennart Meri advanced Estonia’s case for membership in Western security and economic organizations. Fully rejoined to Europe as sovereign power since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia according to President Meri has been and will continue to be an integral part of Europe. President Meri stated that Estonia’s character as a European nation with sovereign rights of independence and self-determination makes it essential that Estonia be allowed to join NATO and the European Union. Estonia has a "right" to decide which organizations it would like to join, he emphasized.

On the issue of NATO membership for Estonia, the president pointed out that for the Baltic States NATO membership should not be seen as a zero-sum game between the West and Russia, but rather the desire of a country to "assume part of the obligations of managing today’s changing world." NATO’s most important contributions to member states are the provision of perceived security, stability, and democracy, he said. NATO membership for Estonia, he argued, is therefore not a threat to Russia. Although he acknowledged that Russia will hardly support further NATO enlargement, "it will probably not seriously oppose it either". President Meri also cautioned the US against excluding countries from the Alliance based on the size of a nation’s territory or its population because as a political strategic community based on common values, NATO must ensure the principle that security is indivisible. The Estonian President remarked that "the technical difficulties of enlargement, such as financial ones, should be weighed against the consequences of denying access to these democracies."

When asked about Lithuania’s recent efforts to focus more on its own NATO membership than on a regional approach in which all Baltic states would join NATO together, President Meri explained that he preferred a regional approach but commented that both Lithuania and Latvia continue to support Estonian membership. Asked what course Estonia would pursue if it were not admitted, President Meri said that Estonia would behave as if it were a member of NATO regardless of whether it was formally admitted or not. He noted that he fully expects NATO will mention Estonia and the issue of Baltic membership at the upcoming April Summit.

The president went on to discuss European Union membership and Estonia’s progress towards full economic integration with Europe. He said that Estonia sees the EU and NATO as two sides of the same coin – movement towards Estonia’s integration into European structures. However, Estonia is much further along in achieving EU membership than membership in NATO. Negotiations between the EU and Estonia are moving along well, with the country’s favorable economic performance motivating the EU to begin accession talks with Estonia. He predicted that Estonia will be ready for EU membership by January 1, 2003.

President Meri ended his remarks with a brief outlook on Estonian-Russian relations. He acknowledged that relations with Russia will not be easy but said that he still favors engagement as the best way of managing Estonia’s relationship with its neighbor. Estonia’s policy of "constructive engagement" with Russia has focused on the pragmatic aspects of bilateral relations, such as trade relations and cultural exchange. President Meri cited the initialing of a new border treaty with Russia last week as a sign that political relations are improving. Lastly, he remarked that he is convinced that "Estonia, together with Finland and Latvia and Lithuania, will be the driving forces in the EU for the implementation of policies which aim to tie in Russia."

Summary by Marc Fellma