Paet: New FM must be quick off the mark
Current MEP and former foreign minister Urmas Paet said whoever lands the post after the resignation of Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, must get to work quickly.
“There are many issues and security concerns facing Europe and Estonia, starting with the war in eastern Ukraine and instability on the Mediterranean’s south and east coast, the crisis over asylum seekers and the threat of terror. And in the long-term, Estonia will hold the European Union Presidency in 2018, and before that the Council of Europe presidency and the campaign for UN Security Council membership,” Paet said.
Paet, who held the foreign minister post between 2005-2014, said Brussels-experience will do good for any candidate.
He said he has not spoken to PM Taavi Rõivas at length about the issue and it is up to Rõivas to decide.
Pentus-Rosimannus resigned a few days ago after a court named her liable in a bankruptcy case in which her father's company was drained of cash before being declared insolvent.
Paet, alongside Kaja Kallas, are the early frontrunners, but there are other serious candidates such as Anne Sulling and Marina Kaljurand. The candidate is likely to be a woman as the Cabinet currently only has two female ministers, one of whom is Pentus-Rosimannus.
Editor: J.M. Laats