The Presidents agreed that the situation required special attention and consolidated efforts to end the repression against peaceful citizens, release all detainees, and engage in dialogue with the society. Estonia supports Lithuania’s initiative to raise the issue of the situation in Belarus at the highest level in the EU institutions and is in favor of convening an extraordinary European Council to discuss this issue.
Estonia also contributes to President Nausėda’s initiative to assume the role of a moderator to deescalate the situation in Belarus. The leaders of Poland, Latvia, and Estonia have already expressed support to the three-step plan for Belarus drafted by the President. Lithuania and Estonia agreed to support the sanctions on Belarus in case the situation in the country failed to improve.
The Estonian President expressed support for Lithuania’s active position to find a peaceful solution to the crisis in Belarus.
The two leaders discussed the relations between their countries and Russia. Both Presidents agreed that Russia sought to divide Europe and the world into spheres of influence through various levers of power and by means of disinformation, historical revisionism, and the launch of the unsafe Ostravets NPP. The leaders also agreed to work together to reach a unanimous agreement among the Baltic States on the non-buying of electricity from the Ostravets NPP. President Nausėda thanked Estonia for its uncompromising support in assessing the threat of the Ostravets NPP and its commitment not to allow the electricity from Ostravets to enter the Estonian or EU market.
It was also agreed on the need to accelerate the process of synchronization with continental Europe which would become the basis for energy independence for the Baltic States. Estonia promised to implement this project as soon as possible, preferably by 2025, in parallel with the construction of the HarmonyLink. The parties plan to accelerate the synchronization by all possible means.
The political agendas of the EU, the Eastern Partnership, and the Three Seas Initiative were discussed and the views on the possibilities for further strengthening economic cooperation between Lithuania and Estonia were exchanged at the meeting. According to the President, the growing volume of trade between Lithuania and Estonia shows a positive trend that should be maintained, especially in the context of the effects of the coronavirus. Emphasizing the fact that Lithuania and Estonia are leading the fintech sector, the President presented the Estonian leader with the world’s first Lithuanian digital numismatic collectors’ coin LBCoin.
