Foreign minister discusses Brexit with EU chief negotiator Barnier
Foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) took part in a video-linked meeting with European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier, discussing Brexit, future relations between the union and the United Kingdom, and Estonia's interests in that sphere.
Reinsalu said Estonia found reaching an agreement with the U.K. - which recently ended their fourth round with relatively little progress made - by year-end to be important.
"Estonia is focused on citizens, entrepreneurs, and foreign policy, security and defence cooperation," the foreign minister said, according to a ministry press release.
"Estonia's general interest is to continue as close and ambitious cooperation as possible with the United Kingdom in many areas, such as trade, data exchange, as well as the mobility of people and transport connections," he added.
Reinsalu is to brief the government on the state of play of EU-U.K. negotiations on Thursday.
A high-level meeting is to take place this month involving the EU and Britain, evaluating the current state and prospects of negotiations.
Estonia's foreign ministry says it is interested in making progress in all topics included in the declaration on the future relationship of the EU and the U.K., and the EU mandate, which would ensure a smooth continuation of relations after the transition period.
Figures released by the U.K. Home Office in late March revealed over 9,000 Estonian citizens had applied to stay in the country after Brexit.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte