Press release: PM meeting with Estonian Prime Minister Ratas: 18 July 2017

The Prime Minister held a bilateral meeting with the Estonian Prime Minister Jüri Ratas today at Downing Street.

The Prime Minister said we are leaving the EU but we are not leaving Europe and we are determined to maintain close friendships with our allies like Estonia.

The Prime Minister welcomed Estonia taking over the EU Presidency and confirmed that the UK would work to support their agenda, including on digital initiatives, cyber security, tackling online extremism and addressing the migration crisis in the Mediterranean.

The Prime Minister provided an update on the constructive beginning to Brexit negotiations and confirmed that we look forward to reaching an agreement on citizens’ rights at the earliest possible stage.

Noting that the UK and Estonia both meet the NATO 2% spending commitment, both leaders agreed that our defence relationship is particularly strong, with 800 British troops deployed in Estonia as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence and British fighter jets policing airspace in the Baltics region.

Finally, turning to Russia, they agreed on the importance of maintaining the Ukraine sanctions until the Minsk Accord is implemented in full.