Today, the President of the Riigikogu Ene Ergma met with the President of Malta George Abela and the delegation accompanying him, who are on a state visit in Estonia. At the meeting, President Abela expressed a serious wish to give a new impetus to Estonia-Malta relations both at parliamentary level and in the cooperation in international organisations. The President of Malta saw as one possibility the establishment of relevant parliamentary groups who would help establish contacts and plan a more active cooperation.

President Abela was interested in our political structure and court system and he also wanted to learn about the working principles of parliamentary committees. The President of the Riigikogu gave an overview of our electoral system, the interrelations of the President, the Government and the parliament as well as the principles of the functioning of Estonia’s multi-level court system.

Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Enn Eesmaa who participated in the meeting spoke about the work of the Riigikogu committees in connection with the large workload arsing from the need to review European Union documents.

When speaking about the situation in the European Union, the financial crisis and problems in Greece were discussed as well as possible measures to stabilise the situation.

At the meeting, Ergma also raised the issue of environmental protection and introduced to the President of Malta the campaign “Let’s do it” which had been initiated at grassroots level and which has spread all over the world by today. Both parties stated that parliamentarians must feel responsibility for promoting ‘green thinking’. In that connection, Abela spoke about the project underway in Malta where environmentally sustainable attitude is now promoted in schools.

At the end of the meeting, the President of Malta made an entry into the guestbook of the Riigikogu: “Two small and new states in the EU … We share common values and we should strive to continue working in harmony and together for the benefit of our two peoples.”

Photos of the meeting: https://fotoalbum.riigikogu.ee/v/2012/Ene_Ergma/George_Abela/

The Riigikogu Press Service