Gallery: YouTuber IShowSpeed meets prime minister during Estonia livestream

YouTube sensation "IShowSpeed" met with Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform), tasted kohuke and tried traditional folk dancing during the Estonian leg of his European tour on Tuesday.
The streamer, who's real name is Darren Jason Watkins Jr. and is also known as Speed, has over 40 million subscribers on YouTube and reaches millions more on social media platforms. He is in the middle of his Europe Tour part 2 that started on July 7.
Watkins started his visit by meeting fans on Tallinn's Freedom Square before making his way to Stenbock House, the seat of the Estonian government, where he met the prime minister.
Photographs published by the Government Office showed Watkins dancing a traditional Estonian folk dance, trying kohuke, being given a tour of Stenbock House and standing on the balcony looking across the Old Town.
He then went to Noblessner Harbor, where he went to the sauna and rode a jet ski, and later took a spin in a rally car.
The famous YouTuber was accompanied by Estonian social media personality Andrei Zevakin and former track and field athlete Grete Griffin.

After the meeting, Michal wrote on social media: "Showcasing Estonia is always a good thing — especially when a content creator with such a large following comes and shares our digital strengths, rich culture, and delicious food industry products."
Government media adviser Carlos Kleimann told ERR that the visit took place at the Watkins' initiative and that the team was not paid for it.
"Since the time requested by the guests fit into the prime minister's schedule, it was arranged," Kleimann said in a statement.
"At Stenbock House, the prime minister introduced the guests to Estonian cultural history. IShowSpeed was taught the Kaera-Jaan folk dance, sampled Estonian flavors, and the prime minister spoke about the success story of our digital state, which IShowSpeed's tens of millions of followers can now learn about," Kleimann added.
The advisor said that Watkins had arrived in Estonia from Finland and will now continue on to Latvia and Lithuania.

Security and private plane cost €30,000
The visit cost tourism agency Visit Estonia €30,000.
Kaarel Kõvatu, tourism marketing project manager, told ERR that Visit Estonia's only financial expenditure was related to transport and ensuring security. A private jet was chartered jointly with Latvia and Lithuania to transport the YouTuber across all three countries.
The police were informed throughout the visit and provided additional security, he added. Visit Estonia also helped to organize the itinerary.
"Estonia's success as a travel destination does not rely only on beautiful views or flight connections but also on how visible and attractive we are in international media," Kõvatu said. "We always seize the opportunity when Estonia ends up in the plans of a major influencer or a prominent international outlet."
"Over 1.9 million unique viewers watched the live stream segment from Estonia today. The value is further amplified by social media reaction: already, hundreds of clips from the stream are spreading, each with hundreds of thousands of views," he said.

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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Helen Wright