Estonian parliament speaker: inviting Putin to visit Estonia is a big mistake
Estonian Parliament Henn Polluaas said in an interview with ERR.ee that he believes that the country's president, Kersti Kaljulaid, made a mistake by inviting Russian President Vladimir Putin to attend the World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples in Tartu, Estonia.
He expressed doubt that the Russian president would come to Estonia. "I am very sorry that the president made this step and called Putin," he said. According to Polluaas, Russia "is carrying out a blatant russification of national minorities, including the Finno-Ugric peoples," so Putin's participation in the congress will be a "spit in our face".
The speaker also criticized Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid‘s visit to Moscow last year. Polluaas believes that it is pointless to build bilateral relations with Russia, while turning a blind eye to "Russian aggression", so it is necessary to conduct a dialogue through the institutions of the EU and NATO.
"Even if we can stand on our heads, our relations with Russia will not change for the better. The key to good relations lies in the Kremlin," he added.
Kersti Kaljulaid arrived in Moscow in April 2019. It was the first visit of the Estonian president to Russia in ten years. Then, during a meeting with Vladimir Putin, Kaljulaid invited him to participate in the VIII World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples, which will be held on June 17-19, 2020 in Tartu. The official letter to the Russian leader was sent on October 15, but the Kremlin has not responded to this date.