Address by the Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland at the international conference
Tbilisi
4 February 2005
Dear Mr Chairman!
Ladies and gentlemen!
First of all, thank you for the opportunity to participate in this conference and to talk in front of such a distinguished audience! I am glad to note that contacts between Estonia and the countries of South Caucasus have intensified considerably during the past few years. Last October we had the honour to host President Mikheil Saakashvili in Estonia. The Estonian President, Mr. Arnold Rüütel visited Armenia last November. For me it is the second time in Tbilisi within less than a year.
I would also like to point out that despite the geographical distance, South Caucasus is culturally and historically a significant region for Estonia. In the 1880s hundreds of Estonians migrated to this region, especially to the coastal areas of the Black Sea. Although many of their descendants moved back to Estonia in the 1990s, roughly 250 Estonians still reside in various villages of the area.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As many social scientists have argued, transition is a problematic concept as such. Even if market economy has fairly smoothly replaced the previous command economy, this has not always brought along liberal democracy, contrary to the assumptions of many "transitologists" in the early 1990s. The success of political transition has been considered to be dependent on fairly standard factors such as institutional and policy choices, and the sequencing of reforms, for example. But the transition is not just about the change in social structures and institutions. Also, and probably more importantly, it is about people themselves, their values and sense of responsibility. Transition of a society, one can argue, involves a lot of individual transitions.
The forces favouring transition are not merely internal. The Central and Eastern European countries, which joined the European Union last year, are an eloquent example of that. The genius of Jean Monnet and the Schuman plan, that worked so well for Western Europe both in terms of economic reconstruction as well as the creation of post-war peace and political stability, has worked for Central and Eastern Europe as well. The accession conditionality and the accession process itself transformed these countries considerably. Without having to go through this process, Central and Eastern Europe today would most probably look very different from what it is. I suspect that the implications of this different look would have been negative for all Europe.
Transition is often a painful process and reforms successful in the long run might not be popular initially, as we know so well in Estonia. Membership in NATO and the European Union were set as our country's main foreign policy goals immediately after Estonia regained independence in 1991. It took us nearly thirteen years to achieve these goals. On the one hand, thirteen years is a long period of time, which often required that we sacrifice our momentary concerns in the interest of long-term perspectives and goals. On the other hand, the development of independent Estonia has been fast, perhaps even faster than we could have hoped for at the beginning of the 1990s. But the most important thing is that you should remember the goal that you want to achieve. The continuity of reforms is vital despite of the change of governments.
Ladies and gentlemen!
There are obvious obstacles on the road towards liberal democracy and economic stability in South Caucasus. The so-called “frozen conflicts” constitute a particular challenge. The continuing existence of Russian military bases in Georgia is another significant obstacle to achieving stability in this country in particular. Estonia, just as all the other European Union Member States, is interested in the stable development of the whole South Caucasus region. We support the peaceful and constructive solving of conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. We hope that the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue takes place within the framework of the Minsk process and the efforts of international organisations cannot be stopped before.
Despite the obvious challenges to political transition in South Caucasus, I believe that today we can be more optimistic about the future of the region than a few years ago. The success of the Georgian “Rose Revolution” and the fact that the postrevolutionary reforms have been conducted in compliance with the constitution, have particularly fed our optimism.
Despite the good internal progress, however, increased outside support to the region’s efforts is vital. A more active approach to aiding Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan contributes to a realistic opportunity to stabilise the region. International cooperation can and has taken many forms, both bi- and multilateral. The European Union’s cooperation with the region is currently carried out through the ESDP Mission. The OSCE mission and numerous NGOs working in the region are making their invaluable contribution.
It is particularly praiseworthy that the attention of the European Union on the region has been growing. A proof of this was the decision last June to include the countries of South Caucasus in the European Neighbourhood process. Estonia welcomes this decision most strongly. Security as well as welfare in our globalised world is no more a national or regional matter. Closer economic and political cooperation between the European Union and its neighbours is as important to the former, as it is to the latter. It is thus essential to create the means for economic integration, and the intensification of political and cultural interrelations, as well as to promote regional co-operation.
The European Commission plans to prepare country reports on Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to be presented to the European Council by this March. These reports will, hopefully, provide a basis for a recommendation to start formulating concrete Action Plans for each country.
Estonia supports, in the drawing up of the European Union’s new financial framework, the European Commission’s proposal to increase the financing of the Neighbourhood Policy from the Union’s budget.
Cooperation with the European Union’s neighbouring states is the realm in which the Union’s new Member States’ political and economic reform experience and transitional know-how are especially valuable. Having itself transformed from a "country in transition" to a full member of both NATO and the European Union, Estonia is eager to share its experiences of successful reforms. We believe that this can constitute a useful contribution to helping the countries of South Caucasus that are currently going through similar transition process. Our contribution could be particularly effective in the Information and Communication Technologies sector, as well as in the sphere of e-government. This is where Estonia itself has been relatively successful in adopting new technologies and introducing reforms. Estonian “Tiger Leap” programme, launched nine years ago, is well-known and has often been brought as an example of the successful developments in our ICT sector. Originally, the purpose of the programme was to connect all Estonian schools to Internet, but in reality its impact turned out to be much wider than that. The implementation of the “Tiger Leap” programme provided us with the opportunity to propagate the use of ICT in our society as a whole. Access to information is one of the principles of democracy and one of the basic human rights.
E-Academy has conducted a joint programme here in Georgia and on March 15 Estonian Minister of Education will be here in Tbilisi to hand over the supervision of this programme to the Georgian side. We will continue our support to the countries of South-Caucasus in this field. And the sharing of our reform experience has also extended to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Estonia, as a member of NATO, is also eager to support the countries of South Caucasus. The Partnership Policy is becoming one of NATO’s priorities, and we most strongly welcome the development of partnership with Caucasian countries. Estonia knows, from its own experience, how essential the Partnership Policy is. We are happy to offer our experiences of NATO accession, Membership Action Process (MAP) and defence reforms to the countries that have expressed clear interest in joining the Euro-Atlantic security structures.
Our main focus in defence co-operation with NATO's Partners is currently on assisting Georgia in its efforts towards the continuous improvement of the overall security environment in the South Caucasus region. Particularly noteworthy has been the cooperation between the Estonian and Georgian ministries of defence. Last July Estonia sent a defence advisor to the Georgian Ministry of Defence, who, among other things, can also serve as a general co-ordinator of Estonian support to Georgia.
I would also like to point out that Estonia is an active founding member of the South Caucasus Clearinghouse (SCCH) initiative co-ordinating military assistance to South Caucasus countries. Estonia will chair the SCCH in 2005 and hopes that many allies and partners will take part in the South Caucasus Clearinghouse meeting.
Thank you for the attention!
4 February 2005
Dear Mr Chairman!
Ladies and gentlemen!
First of all, thank you for the opportunity to participate in this conference and to talk in front of such a distinguished audience! I am glad to note that contacts between Estonia and the countries of South Caucasus have intensified considerably during the past few years. Last October we had the honour to host President Mikheil Saakashvili in Estonia. The Estonian President, Mr. Arnold Rüütel visited Armenia last November. For me it is the second time in Tbilisi within less than a year.
I would also like to point out that despite the geographical distance, South Caucasus is culturally and historically a significant region for Estonia. In the 1880s hundreds of Estonians migrated to this region, especially to the coastal areas of the Black Sea. Although many of their descendants moved back to Estonia in the 1990s, roughly 250 Estonians still reside in various villages of the area.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As many social scientists have argued, transition is a problematic concept as such. Even if market economy has fairly smoothly replaced the previous command economy, this has not always brought along liberal democracy, contrary to the assumptions of many "transitologists" in the early 1990s. The success of political transition has been considered to be dependent on fairly standard factors such as institutional and policy choices, and the sequencing of reforms, for example. But the transition is not just about the change in social structures and institutions. Also, and probably more importantly, it is about people themselves, their values and sense of responsibility. Transition of a society, one can argue, involves a lot of individual transitions.
The forces favouring transition are not merely internal. The Central and Eastern European countries, which joined the European Union last year, are an eloquent example of that. The genius of Jean Monnet and the Schuman plan, that worked so well for Western Europe both in terms of economic reconstruction as well as the creation of post-war peace and political stability, has worked for Central and Eastern Europe as well. The accession conditionality and the accession process itself transformed these countries considerably. Without having to go through this process, Central and Eastern Europe today would most probably look very different from what it is. I suspect that the implications of this different look would have been negative for all Europe.
Transition is often a painful process and reforms successful in the long run might not be popular initially, as we know so well in Estonia. Membership in NATO and the European Union were set as our country's main foreign policy goals immediately after Estonia regained independence in 1991. It took us nearly thirteen years to achieve these goals. On the one hand, thirteen years is a long period of time, which often required that we sacrifice our momentary concerns in the interest of long-term perspectives and goals. On the other hand, the development of independent Estonia has been fast, perhaps even faster than we could have hoped for at the beginning of the 1990s. But the most important thing is that you should remember the goal that you want to achieve. The continuity of reforms is vital despite of the change of governments.
Ladies and gentlemen!
There are obvious obstacles on the road towards liberal democracy and economic stability in South Caucasus. The so-called “frozen conflicts” constitute a particular challenge. The continuing existence of Russian military bases in Georgia is another significant obstacle to achieving stability in this country in particular. Estonia, just as all the other European Union Member States, is interested in the stable development of the whole South Caucasus region. We support the peaceful and constructive solving of conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. We hope that the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue takes place within the framework of the Minsk process and the efforts of international organisations cannot be stopped before.
Despite the obvious challenges to political transition in South Caucasus, I believe that today we can be more optimistic about the future of the region than a few years ago. The success of the Georgian “Rose Revolution” and the fact that the postrevolutionary reforms have been conducted in compliance with the constitution, have particularly fed our optimism.
Despite the good internal progress, however, increased outside support to the region’s efforts is vital. A more active approach to aiding Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan contributes to a realistic opportunity to stabilise the region. International cooperation can and has taken many forms, both bi- and multilateral. The European Union’s cooperation with the region is currently carried out through the ESDP Mission. The OSCE mission and numerous NGOs working in the region are making their invaluable contribution.
It is particularly praiseworthy that the attention of the European Union on the region has been growing. A proof of this was the decision last June to include the countries of South Caucasus in the European Neighbourhood process. Estonia welcomes this decision most strongly. Security as well as welfare in our globalised world is no more a national or regional matter. Closer economic and political cooperation between the European Union and its neighbours is as important to the former, as it is to the latter. It is thus essential to create the means for economic integration, and the intensification of political and cultural interrelations, as well as to promote regional co-operation.
The European Commission plans to prepare country reports on Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to be presented to the European Council by this March. These reports will, hopefully, provide a basis for a recommendation to start formulating concrete Action Plans for each country.
Estonia supports, in the drawing up of the European Union’s new financial framework, the European Commission’s proposal to increase the financing of the Neighbourhood Policy from the Union’s budget.
Cooperation with the European Union’s neighbouring states is the realm in which the Union’s new Member States’ political and economic reform experience and transitional know-how are especially valuable. Having itself transformed from a "country in transition" to a full member of both NATO and the European Union, Estonia is eager to share its experiences of successful reforms. We believe that this can constitute a useful contribution to helping the countries of South Caucasus that are currently going through similar transition process. Our contribution could be particularly effective in the Information and Communication Technologies sector, as well as in the sphere of e-government. This is where Estonia itself has been relatively successful in adopting new technologies and introducing reforms. Estonian “Tiger Leap” programme, launched nine years ago, is well-known and has often been brought as an example of the successful developments in our ICT sector. Originally, the purpose of the programme was to connect all Estonian schools to Internet, but in reality its impact turned out to be much wider than that. The implementation of the “Tiger Leap” programme provided us with the opportunity to propagate the use of ICT in our society as a whole. Access to information is one of the principles of democracy and one of the basic human rights.
E-Academy has conducted a joint programme here in Georgia and on March 15 Estonian Minister of Education will be here in Tbilisi to hand over the supervision of this programme to the Georgian side. We will continue our support to the countries of South-Caucasus in this field. And the sharing of our reform experience has also extended to Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Ladies and gentlemen!
Estonia, as a member of NATO, is also eager to support the countries of South Caucasus. The Partnership Policy is becoming one of NATO’s priorities, and we most strongly welcome the development of partnership with Caucasian countries. Estonia knows, from its own experience, how essential the Partnership Policy is. We are happy to offer our experiences of NATO accession, Membership Action Process (MAP) and defence reforms to the countries that have expressed clear interest in joining the Euro-Atlantic security structures.
Our main focus in defence co-operation with NATO's Partners is currently on assisting Georgia in its efforts towards the continuous improvement of the overall security environment in the South Caucasus region. Particularly noteworthy has been the cooperation between the Estonian and Georgian ministries of defence. Last July Estonia sent a defence advisor to the Georgian Ministry of Defence, who, among other things, can also serve as a general co-ordinator of Estonian support to Georgia.
I would also like to point out that Estonia is an active founding member of the South Caucasus Clearinghouse (SCCH) initiative co-ordinating military assistance to South Caucasus countries. Estonia will chair the SCCH in 2005 and hopes that many allies and partners will take part in the South Caucasus Clearinghouse meeting.
Thank you for the attention!
© Estonian Foreign Ministry
- Islandi väljak 1
- 15049 Tallinn
- TEL (+372) 6 377 000
- General Info: vminfo@vm.ee
- Documents: post@vm.ee
- For consular and visa-related information:: konsul@vm.ee
