The sixth international Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC) will take place in Tallinn in late January next year. Tallinn Deputy Mayor Kristjan Järvan (Isamaa), who is responsible for municipal services and business, has criticized the organization of the conference and believes it should be postponed by a couple of months.

Järvan considers the timing of the conference, scheduled for January 27–29, to be the biggest problem, saying the major event has previously always taken place in either June or July. At the city government's press conference on Tuesday, Järvan said he still does not understand why late January was chosen.

"For reasons that remain unexplained, Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform) and Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) have decided to bring the conference forward to January, before March," Järvan said.

Mariin Ratnik, an undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who is among those responsible for organizing the conference, said the dates are always decided in cooperation with partners and chosen to fit into the broader calendar of major international events.

"We discussed at length with the Ukrainians beforehand what would be a good time and how it could tie in with other international events, whether that's the World Economic Forum in Davos or the Munich Security Conference. We also considered February 24, the anniversary of the start of the war, so that these events would form a natural sequence. We reached a common understanding that these dates would work and agreed on them," Ratnik explained.

Järvan said there is also simply too little time left to successfully organize an event of this scale. He noted that the city currently knows neither the venue nor who the speakers will be.

"There are four months left and the current situation is that neither the venue nor the speakers are known. All of these programs have to be approved by the Ukrainian government, which is currently still partly being formed. Of course, supporting Ukraine is extremely important to all of us and if this major event in Tallinn were to fail because people have to trudge through the snow, it would damage not only Tallinn's reputation for years but Estonia's international reputation as a whole," Järvan said.

Ratnik said this level of uncertainty is normal at this stage for major events of this kind and is due to the fact that the previous Ukraine Recovery Conference in Poland took place only a few months ago. Ratnik is also optimistic about finding suitable venues.

"This conference isn't a single conference. It essentially comprises seven smaller conferences, each roughly the size of the Lennart Meri Conference. That means there are different themes and, in effect, separate conferences that would take place at different but interconnected locations across Tallinn. Tallinn has the capacity for that," the undersecretary said.

Ratnik added that Tallinn has ample experience hosting international summits and that all aspects of the event have, in fact, been discussed with the city throughout the process. She said there was also no reason to worry about excessive snow on the city's streets.

"Six months is quite a long time for the city to prepare by equipping itself with the necessary machinery and ensuring it is ready. I think Tallinn can demonstrate that it is up to the task by keeping the streets clear and making it easy to get around. On the other hand, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the snowdrifts are always higher than your head. Heads of state, monarchs and other important figures calmly walk along snowy roads and no one has complained so far that Davos' reputation has suffered as a result," Ratnik said.

Based on previous experience, the conference could bring between 5,000 and 7,000 people to Tallinn. It has also been suggested that U.S. President Donald Trump could attend.

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