A the meeting of the President of the Riigikogu Ene Ergma and the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs Dimitrios Avramopoulos, the focus was on bilateral relations of Estonia and Greece, as well as the economic issues of the EU in overcoming the crisis, the situation in the Middle-East, and the problems of the crisis in Syria. 

The guest gave a brief overview of the steps that had been taken in Greece for overcoming the economic recession. Avramopoulos stated that, in connection with the economic crisis in Europe and in Greece, the Government had had to make many difficult and unpopular decisions but they had been inevitable. He was happy that the situation had taken a positive turn. The Greek population has increasingly become to realise the inevitability of the ongoing reforms. The activities of the current Government coalition give hope that, by the second half of this year, the decline in the economy might stop and gradually start to grow again. 

Ergma stressed that we are interested in establishing closer ties with the commissions of the Greek parliament. A visit of the Finance Committee of the Riigikogu to Greece in the coming spring is being planned. In her words, it is important to exchange information directly. Ergma expressed a hope that this visit would be a good example for other committees to communicate more intensively and learn more about one another. Ergma briefly introduced the experiences with the implementation of the e-state and referred to the effectiveness of the implementation of the e-Tax Board. These experiences deserve to be implemented also in Greece, Ergma explained. In the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Avramopoulos, Estonia’s e-state solutions are of serious interest to Greece who would like to learn more about them. 

Ergma and Avramopoulos stated that the development of cooperation is useful for both countries, particularly in view of the upcoming Greek presidency in the European Union in the first half of the coming year. 

The Chairman of the Finance Committee Sven Sester and the member of the Social Affairs Committee Maret Maripuu took part in the meeting. 

The Riigikogu Press Service