Estonia–Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group condemns Estonia’s actions in the UN
The Estonia–Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) issued a statement in which it condemns the actions of the representative of Estonia at the United Nations General Assembly.
The Estonian-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group expresses regret that on 18 September 2024, the representative of Estonia voted at the UN General Assembly in New York in favour of a resolution, which presented several unrealistic ultimatums to the State of Israel, and essentially called on the countries of the world to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
Israel and Estonia have friendly relations, cooperate on defence issues, and share values that the Palestinian territories as well as many of the countries that submitted the resolution have serious problems in respecting.
We express concern about the changes in Estonia’s behaviour in the UN General Assembly in recent times. Earlier, Estonia’s foreign policy line has generally been that on issues that do not directly concern us, we vote in the UN together with the other European Union countries, and if there is no consensus among them on a particular issue, we vote with the USA or abstain. On 18 September, the USA voted against the UN resolution, and several European countries, including our important ally Great Britain and our great partner Ukraine, abstained. However, Russia, Belarus, China and Iran, among others, voted in favour of the resolution.
The basis of the behaviour of Estonia’s representative at the UN General Assembly vote on 18 September still remains unclear to the public. We support the initiative of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu to invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia Margus Tsahkna, and Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jonatan Vseviov to a sitting of the Committee to ask them the reasons for what happened during the vote at the UN General Assembly. We strongly oppose such a change of course in Estonia’s foreign policy and, together with Marko Mihkelson, consider it a threat to Estonia’s national security.
It is obvious that continuation of this behaviour at the votes in the UN General Assembly will worsen the relations between Estonia and Israel, and the same could happen to our relations with Estonia’s key allies, led by the USA.
The situation is made particularly sensitive by the fact that the vote took place a few weeks before the anniversary of the tragedy of 7 October: on 7 October 2023, a coordinated surprise attack against Israel took place, starting with firing at least 3000 missiles into Israel from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, at the same time around 2500 Hamas terrorists broke down the barrier between Gaza and Israel and murdered civilians in the neighbouring Israeli communities. At least 1400 Israelis were killed, unarmed civilian hostages and captured Israeli soldiers, including women and children, were taken to the Gaza Strip. Of the 254 hostages, at least 72 have been murdered or have perished, and 97 are still being held hostage by terrorists.
It is strange to hear the claims of Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna that, “Our vote for the resolution does not change our firm position that Israel has the inalienable right to self-defence and that Hamas is a terrorist organisation whose actions should be condemned fully. As these elements are not sufficiently highlighted in the text of the resolution, our explanatory declaration accompanying our vote stresses the need to consider the legitimate security interests of Israel.” Firstly, voting in favour of this resolution is in itself at least a partial change of position. Secondly, if the “elements” that are important for Estonia were not sufficiently highlighted in the text of the resolution according to the Minister, would it not have been much more logical and right not to support the resolution in its current form?
We hope that this is more a misunderstanding than a radical change in Estonia’s foreign policy course. We call on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia and Estonia’s representatives at the UN General Assembly to consistently defend the world order that is based on the norms and principles of international law of democratic states, and on agreed rules. According to the National Security Concept of Estonia, approved by the Riigikogu, Estonia is a member of a community of democratic countries, and Estonia’s aim is that this community is united and enduring.
The Estonia-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group of the Riigikogu is composed of Chairman Eerik-Niiles Kross and members Vadim Belobrovtsev, Meelis Kiili, Lauri Laats, Riina Solman, Aivar Sõerd, Peeter Tali, Vilja Toomast and Kristo Enn Vaga.
For more information, please contact:
Eerik-Niiles Kross
Chairman of Estonia-Israel Parliamentary Friendship Group
[email protected]