Mihkelson, Mikser: All hinges on Trump administration line-up
National Defence Committee chairman Marko Mihkelson (IRL) believes that Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential elections won’t bring about major change in Estonian-American relations. He agrees with Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Sven Mikser (SDE) that a lot hinges on the line-up of Trump’s administration.
In his interview with ETV, which was recorded before Trump’s win on Wednesday morning, Mihkelson said that the U.S. elections confirmed a general trend, namely that surveys and polls did not reflect the eventual result anymore. “This is a lesson these elections are repeating,” Mihkelson said.
“We’re entering completely unknown territory. What is clear is that U.S.-Estonian relations won’t change cardinally. But we have a number of questions. Trump has indeed made several statements in matters of security. He has been reserved in his criticism of Russia, especially where Ukraine and Syria are concerned. The question is what his policy is really going to be,” Mihkelson said.
He stressed that the line-up of Trump’s administration will be very important, especially the question who would be Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, and who Trump would make his National Security Advisor.
Mikser: Trump presidency might lead to Putin testing more limits
Chairman of the Riigikogu’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Sven Mikser (SDE), also stressed the importance of Trump’s administration and its members. It wasn’t clear what kind of administration this was going to be, who would belong to it, and what its politics would be. “Not only domestically, but also internationally. This situation could create windows of opportunity where limits could be tested, for example for Russian president Vladimir Putin,” Mikser said.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn