The Diplomat
King Philip VI, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya, received yesterday in Madrid the President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, who made an intense working visit to Spain coinciding with the centenary of bilateral diplomatic relations.
Spain recognized Estonia’s independence on March 8, 1921, so Kersti Kaljulaid’s visit coincided exactly with the centenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In addition, this year also marks the 30th anniversary of Spain’s re-recognition of Estonian independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
On her first official visit to Spain, Kersti Kaljulaid was received by the King at the Zarzuela Palace, where she held a working meeting before being entertained with lunch. This is the first reception of Philip VI to a head of state since last July, when he held a meeting with the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. During the reception at Zarzuela, the Estonian President and the King were accompanied by Minister González Laya, the Spanish Ambassador to Estonia, Teresa Orjales Vidal; the Estonian Ambassador to Spain, Mariin Ratnik; and the Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of the Republic of Estonia, Lauri Kuusing.
Later, Kersti Kaljulaid was received at the Moncloa Palace by Pedro Sánchez, with whom she discussed the state of bilateral relations and other matters of shared interest in foreign policy, European neighborhood, security and digitalization, a subject “in which Estonia has a high level of development,” Moncloa said in a press release. “Today we celebrate centenary of diplomatic relations between Estonia and Spain, two like-minded countries, good partners in the EU and committed allies in NATO”. the Estonian leader said via her Twitter account. “Pleasure to visit Madrid and meet PM Pedro Sanchez to deepen cooperation even more”, she added.
“The good relations between the two countries are evidenced by Spain’s commitment to the defense of Baltic airspace and the eastern flank of NATO, an organization of which the Baltic country is also a member” said the Presidency of the Government, in reference to the Enhanced Forward Presence mission, launched by the Alliance to control possible Russian threats and in which Spain has deployed troops, especially in Latvia. Likewise, a Spanish military officer is currently in charge of the Operations Command of NATO’s Center of Excellence in cyber defense, whose headquarters are located in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.
“The governments of both countries share an interest in promoting the feminist agenda and the fight for equality”, continued Moncloa, which recalled that, in addition to the President of the Republic, “Estonia also has since this year the first female head of government in its history, Kaja Kallas”.
Apart from this, Kaljuaid participated in an event of the Elcano Royal Institute, entitled Looking beyond the pandemic: Europe and the rest of the world, and visited the Congress, where she was received by the President of the Lower House, Meritxell Batet. The working day concluded with a dinner hosted by Arancha González Laya at the Palacio de Viana.
