President: Ambassador's suggestions in Kazakhstan suprised me and my advisors
President Alar Karis told Estonian media outlet Delfi that it was not only him, but the entire 130-member Estonian delegation that found themselves in an unexpected and uncomfortable situation in Kazakhstan.
Confusion over Estonia's foreign policy messages arose during President Alar Karis' November state visit to Kazakhstan, when Estonian Ambassador Jaap Ora advised the president to refrain from making statements regarding the importance to Estonia of supporting Ukraine.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently announced on December 9 that Ora had decided to resign from his post.
The debate on Estonia's foreign policy, which began with President Alar Karis' state visit to Kazakhstan, has since intensified. Politicians belonging to the current governing coalition have accused the president of diplomatic ambiguity and conflict with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In an interview with Delfi, President Karis said that Ambassador Jaap Ora had advised him not to put pressure on Kazakhstan through public statements about Ukraine.
"It was not a 'request for understanding' but an 'urgent recommendation.' The discussion on this topic took place immediately after arriving at the hotel in Astana from the airport, during dinner, while preparing for the next day's meetings," Karis said.
"The ambassador's advice came as a surprise to me and my advisors, as he had not expressed such views in any previous written summaries or during meetings held via video conference."
"It was not only me who found myself in an unexpected and uncomfortable situation, but the entire 130-member Estonian delegation," the president continued.
"Most of the delegation members had their own meetings and cooperation agreements ahead of them. I assumed that the local ambassador would be the one most familiar with the local situation and customs and would have the best information, as he is the one who implements Estonia's foreign policy," he added.
Karis admitted that the messages could and should have been worked through calmly beforehand. "I don't understand why this wasn't done earlier," Karis said.
President Karis declined to provide further comment to ERR on the situation, stating via representative of his office that "everything has already been correctly reported in Eesti Ekspress."
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Editor: Michael Cole, Aleksander Krjukov
