Vice-President of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) and Chairman of the Estonia-Germany Parliamentary Friendship Group Hanno Pevkur and Chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Relations with the Baltic States of the German Bundestag Alois Karl discussed the coronavirus situation and the issues relating to vaccination at a video conference today. They also spoke of the elections of the Bundestag that would take place in autumn, the security situation and other issues of interest to both parties.

Pevkur gave his German colleague an overview of the COVID-19 pandemic situation and the measures set for fighting against it in Estonia. They both agreed that the only way out of the pandemic situation was vaccination of people and expressed hope that the supply of vaccines to countries would considerably increase in spring.

“Although it is possible to acquire immunity also by exposure to the coronavirus, vaccination is still less dangerous to health,” Pevkur emphasised. “Rapid vaccination of the population helps us to be able to re-open our economy and also gradually abolish restrictions on movement, although we have to stick to them at the moment for the safety us all.”

Pevkur said that Germany was also worried about the scarcity of vaccines. “In the opinion of my German colleague, one should not assume that there are countries which are ready to give up the already few supplies of vaccines they have been allocated. It would be better to exert pressure on the producers to increase production, in order to achieve herd immunity across Europe.” Pevkur added.

Pevkur and Karl also spoke about the security situation in the region and parliamentary cooperation. Pevkur expressed hope that the excellent cooperation between the two countries and at the parliamentary level would continue, and that it would be possible to meet in person soon, either in Estonia or in Germany, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Estonia and Germany.

The federal elections in Germany in September, where the issues of the future are expected to be in focus, were also discussed at the video meeting. Karl said that the election programmes of the German political parties would most probably concentrate on energy issues and the problems relating to ageing of the population.

Riigikogu Press Service
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