Congratulations from foreign leaders continue to arrive for new Estonian president
Dozens of monarchs and other heads of state as well as the leaders of many international organizations have congratulated Kersti Kaljulaid on her election as the new president of Estonia — and more messages continue to arrive two weeks after her inauguration.
Spokespeople for the Office of the President said that congratulations received so far number almost 50 and more keep coming, as the messages of congratulation are sent by diplomatic mail, which can take time to arrive.
Monarchs to have congratulated her include King Philippe of Belgium, King Felipe VI of Spain, Emperor Akihito of Japan, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, King Harald V of Norway, King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden and Queen Elizabeth II of the UK.
Heads of state and heads of government that have sent their congratulations to the Estonian president include Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė, Latvian President Raimonds Vējonis, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Polish President Andrzej Duda, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, French President François Hollande, German President Joachim Gauck and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Congratulations were also sent by President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Baltic Assembly President Jānis Vucāns and Vice Presidents Giedrė Purvaneckienė and Helir-Valdor Seeder as well as President of the European Court of Justice Koen Lenaerts.
After two rounds of voting and a runoff in the Riigikogu on Aug. 29 and one round of voting and a runoff in an electoral college on Sept. 24 failed to produce a new head of state, former Estonian representative to the European Court of Auditors Kersti Kaljulaid was elected president with 81 votes in the 101-seat Riigikogu on Oct. 3.
Kaljulaid was sworn in as President of Estonia on Oct. 10, when she likewise became the northernmost Baltic state's first woman president.
Editor: Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS