European countries are looking to foster closer ties with Taiwan, visiting Member of the Estonian Parliament and Estonia-Taiwan Friendship Group chairman Kristo Enn Vaga said, calling on like-minded countries to jointly safeguard democratic values.
Vaga is leading an eight-member cross-party parliamentary delegation on a visit to Taiwan from yesterday to Friday — a “historically big delegation,” he wrote on social media.
As a solid friend of Taiwan, Vaga has also long supported the nation’s meaningful participation in international organizations through public statements and posting on social media, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement yesterday.
Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
The delegation consists of members of five out of six political parties in the Estonian parliament, Vaga said during a meeting with Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) yesterday.
“I see that a lot of European countries are taking a step closer to Taiwan as Estonia is doing and this is such a huge thing in value-based foreign policy that we are also trying to do in Estonia,” he said, adding that Estonia hopes to continue expanding cooperation with Taiwan.
Estonia and Taiwan “are very far apart in kilometers, but on values, we are very similar, very like-minded countries,” he said.
Vaga urged all democratic nations to stick together to form “a common front in protecting democracy all over the world.”
He invited Han and other legislators to visit Estonia this year:
“Bring your positivity, your enthusiasm and maybe your very good weather also to Estonia, we really need that,” he said.
Han thanked the European country for supporting Taiwan’s international participation, including in the WHO, Interpol and the UN.
With a population of only 1.3 million people, Estonia is highly digitalized, and the digital public services provided by its government agencies are a model for countries around the world to learn from, Han said.
He hoped that the two sides would continue to explore more opportunities for cooperation in digital development, cultural exchanges and trade.
The delegation is to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) during their stay, as well as visit the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the National Science and Technology Council, the International Trade Administration, the National Health Insurance Administration and the Hsinchu Science Park, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
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