Jeb Bush announces Estonia visit for June
Possible US Republican Party presidential candidate Jeb Bush will visit Germany, Poland and Estonia in June.
Bush is the younger brother of former President George W. Bush, who visited Tallinn in 2006 while in office. Their father is George H. W. Bush, US president between 1989-1993.
Although the younger Bush is yet to announce his candidacy, experts say he could make the announcement after the trip to Europe.
According to Reuters, Bush is hoping that his visit will allow him to distinguish his foreign policy views from those of Hillary Clinton, the overwhelming favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination. Republican candidates and presidents are traditionally more popular in Estonia, as well as in the rest of Eastern Europe, than the Democrats.
In the light of Russian aggression in Ukraine, both Estonian and Polish politicians have repeatedly called for increased US and NATO military presence in the region and it is hoped that Republicans will take these calls more seriously. Bush has previously called Obama "feckless" for not providing defensive equipment sought by Ukraine.
According to Bush's spokeswoman Kristy Campbell, Bush “will discuss policies to promote growth, innovation and technologies to address the changing global economic environment and ways to foster prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic”. "He will also be listening to their perspectives on growing security challenges in the region," she said.
This will be Jeb Bush's first trip to Estonia.
Editor: J.M. Laats, S. Tambur