Estonia and Afghanistan

Bilateral relations

In the first few years of the Estonian Republic, contacts between Estonia and Afghanistan did not exist. However, Afghanistan’s expansion of foreign ties in the 1920s and 30s reached all the way to Estonia. The first diplomatic contact between Estonia and Afghanistan took place on the level of their London embassies in 1923; these contacts remained on the level of courtesy visits. In 1930, however, an outlook for deepening ties developed. Afghanistan’s ambassador to Moscow, Sardar Mohammed Aziz (brother of King Mohammed Nadir-Shah), agreed with Estonian Ambassador Julius Seljamaa’s proposal that the two nations conclude a friendship agreement between them that could be the basis for further relations. The Estonian government hoped to find a market for Estonian goods in Afghanistan. Afghanistan had already signed analogous agreement with Finland and Latvia.

When the agreement project, which was modelled after the Afghanistan-Latvia friendship agreement of 1928, was agreed upon, it was signed on 6 December 1930 in Tallinn (Foreign Minister J. Lattik and Ambassador Mohammed Aziz). The agreement was short and established inviolable peace and a serious and lasting friendship between both countries, and also foresaw the possibility of establishing diplomatic and consular relations and holding negotiations in trade matters. The agreement came into force in April 1931.

They never got to have trade negotiations, although trading did begin between Estonia and Afghanistan in 1932. Trading did not reach any remarkable level—in some years Estonia was able to export some paper and a small number of telephones to Afghanistan. Estonian imports from Afghanistan were trivial, consisting of a few chance purchases (rugs, furs).

Afghanistan recognised Estonia’s re-independence on 7 September 1991. However, diplomatic ties were not established again between Estonia and Afghanistan until 1 July 2005.

In September 2006 Estonia opened its special diplomatic mission in Afghanistan. It is currently led by charge d’affaires ad interim Daniel Schaer. The charge d’affaires has resided in Kabul since the summer of 2007 (prior to that the charge d’affaires was located in Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, where Estonian development cooperation projects helped with the Lashkar Gah Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)). Since March of 2008, the special mission in Afghanistan also includes healtg care expert Dr. Argo Parts, who consults for the British PRT leaders and the Helmand provincial government about the development of the health care system.

The first Estonian Ambassador to Afghanistan Harri Tiido presented his credentials to President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai in March 2008. Ambassador Tiido resides in Tallinn. In July 2009 the government of the Republic confirmed Harri Tiido as the special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
To date, Estonia still does not have a diplomatic representation in Afghanistan.

In July 2009, the Estonian government passed a decision updating Estonia's Afghanistan Strategy, which specifies the principles of Estonia’s Afghanistan policy and its course of action for the next few years.

Visits

• December 2006, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. The delegation included head of the Defence Forces General Ants Laaneots. Meetings were held with the president, the speaker of the lower house of the Parliament, and ministers.
• August 2007, Minister of Defence Jaak Aaviksoo. He had meetings with the Afghan minister of defence and the leadership of the ISAF.
• January 2008, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet. He had meetings with the president, foreign minister, secretary general of the lower house of Parliament, and the ISAF commander.
• February 2008, Afghan Minister of Defence Wardak’s visit to Estonia. Meetings took place with Minister of Defence Aaviksoo and Foreign Minister Paet.
• In April 2008 Minister of Defence Jaak Aaviksoo visited Afghanistan. Within the framework of his visit, meetings were held with Afghan Defence Minister Wardak and the key figures of various Afghan and international forces.
• In November of 2008, Estonian Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo visited Afghanistan. Meetings were held with ISAF leadership.
• In March 2009 Foreign Minister Urmas Paet visited Afghanistan. He had meetings with the foreign minister, chairman of the lower house of Parliament, European Union special representatives in Afghanistan, and NATO’s senior civilian representative in Afghanistan.

Economic Relations

Economic contacts between the countries thus far have been modest and chaotic. Civilian trade has become marginal. Investments in Afghanistan are virtually non-existent.

So far contacts between the two nations have been primarily tied to humanitarian co-operation, related to either the NATO ISAF mission or the USA-led Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

Development Co-operation

Since 2002, Estonia has contributed as much as it can to the socio-economic development of Afghanistan through various international aid organisations (humanitarian aid and trust funds) and through bilateral projects. Since 2006, Afghanistan has been one of Estonia’s four bilateral development co-operation partner countries. Most of our development co-operation has been focused on education, the development needs of women and children, and the advancement of democracy and good administrative practices.

At the end of 2006 we began focusing more on the health care sector. In 2008, Estonia’s special mission was joined by a health care expert, whose responsibilities include co-ordinating Estonian and international development co-operation projects in the Lashkar Gah UK Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) and consulting with Helmand’s provincial government about developing the health care system. In March 2009, NPO Mondo member and medic for the Estonian Disaster Relief Team Anu Raisma will continue working as the Estonian health care expert in Afghanistan.

View the list of development co-operation projects carried out by Estonia.

Defence Co-operation

The Estonian Defence Forces have taken part in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan since 2003. At the moment there are almost 150 Defence Force members serving in Afghanistan. Most of the Estonian unit has, since the summer of 2006, served alongside the British units in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The infantry unit, strengthened by Estonia’s trench mortar team in Helmand, is a manoeuvre team with considerable strength that carries out battle operations, along with British, American and Afghan units, against insurgent armed groups in the areas, particularly the Taliban. Also located in Helmand is Estonia’s support centre, which takes care of logistical services and technical repairs for the contingent.

Since the fall of 2006, the security of the Estonian civil representative working in Afghanistan has been ensured by a Defence Forces personal protection team.

Not all Estonian Defence Forces members in Afghanistan are stationed in Helmand province. Estonian staff officers serve in both the southern headquarters of the ISAF’s commanders in Kandahar and in the ISAF headquarters in Kabul. At the international airport KAIA in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, there is an Air Force apron service team, which services flight vehicles on the ground. Therefore the only branch of the Estonian Defence Forces not represented in Afghanistan is the naval forces.

Earlier contributions

From July 2002 to June 2005, special mine-clearing experts and bomb-sniffing dogs from the rescue board participated in the anti-terrorism operation Enduring Freedom. Their last mission took place in the beginning of 2005, when the five-member team plus two dogs served at the Bagram air base near Kabul.

Estonian units have been active in Afghanistan within the framework of NATO since 13 March 2003, when a six-member mine-clearing team began to serve the ISAF. Their responsibility, as part of an international brigade, was to clear the area around Kabul of leftover explosives.

In July 2005 the mine-clearing team headed to the PRT of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan, where a military observation team was also beginning to serve.

When the units from Great Britain headed to Helmand province in southern Afghanistan in February 2006, the Estonian units also began working there. Due to the different security situation and tasks, the independent mine-clearing team was replaced by combat engineers from the infantry company unit. The military observation team also ended its work.

Estonians in Afganistan

In addition to the special mission, the Estonian Ministry of Defence has been sending civil experts to the USA Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A) since March 2007 in order to further the relations between the Afghan Parliament and the Ministry of Defence. Starting in March 2010 there are four Estonian civilian police officers serving in the European Union Police Mission (EUPOL-Afghanistan), and since the summer of 2008 an Estonian has been working in Kabul as a EUPOL policy advisor. An Estonian civil servant specializing in security operations is contributing to the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan (UNAMA).

This information sheet was compiled in co-operation with the Ministry of Defence.

Useful links:

http://www.nato.int
http://www.jfcbs.nato.int/ISAF/
http://operatsioonid.kmin.ee/
Afghanistan's Foreign Ministry
Afghanistan National Development Strategy - ANDS
UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan - UNAMA
The EU's relations with Afghanistan

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