Press release: PM meeting with Prime Minister Ratas: 30 January 2018

The Prime Minister began by congratulating Prime Minister Ratas on the centenary of Estonia’s independence, and noted the role of Royal Navy ships in supporting Estonia’s fight for independence a century ago.

Both leaders expressed their commitment to the strong defence relationship between the UK and Estonia, and noted their shared interest in areas such as artificial intelligence and the digital economy. They agreed to look into how we might be able to collaborate further in these shared areas of interest.

The Prime Minister said that whilst the British public decided to leave the EU, they did not decide to leave Europe. She said there are many areas in which the UK and EU can continue to work together for the benefit of both parties, including counterterrorism and law enforcement.

The leaders agreed on the need for an implementation period to give businesses confidence and time to adjust to just one set of changes, and the importance of negotiating an agreement on our future relationship, which reflects the interest of both the UK and the EU.