OREANDA-NEWS. October 14, 2011. Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon noted at their meeting that cooperation between the two countries in the field of the economy, culture and defence has intensified in the past year.

At the beginning of the meeting, Ansip thanked France for its assistance in the release of the Estonian hostages in Lebanon. “Thank you for helping us during the complicated and difficult times when seven Estonians were being held hostage in Lebanon,” said Ansip. Resolving the hostage crisis required close international cooperation, in which France played a key role.

In discussing economic relations, Ansip said he was pleased that France had become Estonia’s ninth largest trading partner in the first six months of the year and that France’s direct investments into Estonia had also grown. With regard to export, France is also in ninth place. Export grew 1.8 times during the year, and import was up over one-third.

The French prime minister recognized Estonia’s decision to join the Eurozone. “The euro is of fundamental importance from the standpoint of the European Union’s future,” said Fillon and added that the common currency is the engine for economic and political cooperation, both of which, he said, must be strengthened.

Ansip said that Estonia supports an earlier entry into force of the European Stability Mechanism, calling the ESM more effective and legally more ironclad than the EFSF. According to current plans, the ESM should enter into force in July 2013, but recently a potential implementation in July 2012 has been discussed. Estonia also supports an earlier implementation because the country’s stake in the ESM is smaller than its contribution to the EFSF (0.186% vs. 0.26%) and the capital contribution is 149 million euros over five years, which is not counted toward government debt as in the case of the EFSF.

In discussing the European Union’s new budget, Ansip said the current budget volume is optimum. The head of the French government said they desire to stabilize, not reduce the EU budget. Fillon considered it important to develop cross-border infrastructure projects using EU budgetary resources. Ansip said that over the last 20 years, Estonia has joined all organizations that it has aspired to. “Now we should devote more attention to building connecting routes with the rest of Europe,” said Ansip.

The cultural relations between the two countries are likewise active. Today the Estonian cultural festival “Estonie tonique” commences at the French Ministry of Culture. The cultural festival, which will run for two months, is the biggest Estonian culture event ever to be held outside Estonia. The festival is also the largest cultural cooperation project between Estonia and France.
Defence cooperation between Estonia and France has also become closer. This September, Defence Minister Mart Laar visited Paris, where he signed a bilateral defence cooperation agreement.