President in Sweden in final foreign visit as head of state
President Kersti Kaljulaid said Monday that Estonian-Swedish relations remained strong in a variety of spheres, including in the digital arena, in climate issues and the international situation facing women and children.
The president was in Stockholm for what was her last foreign visit representing Estonia as head of state, and met Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden as well as other leaders.
The president tweeted that she had had a: "Great meeting today with Crown Princess Victoria, discussing Estonian-Swedish relations, digital ecosystems and how this can help woman and children, the UN agenda 2030 and sustainability and climate."
Kaljulaid was appointed the first ever UN Global Advocate for women and children in June, a post she will hold for two years.
Ahead of the meeting, the president's office noted in a press release that: "Relations between Sweden and Estonia have traditionally been very close, but a lot of possibilities for cooperation in terms of the green and digital transitions are still going unused."
Great meeting today with Crown Princess Victoria to discuss relations, #digital ecosystems and how it can help women and children, UN agenda 2030, #sustainability and #climate pic.twitter.com/dtzj4SczaB
— Kersti Kaljulaid (@KerstiKaljulaid) September 27, 2021
As well as meeting with Crown Princess Victoria, Kaljulaid also met Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and Riksdag speaker Andreas Norlén, also discussing opportunities to work more closely together in the climate, energy, digital and cyber fields, in international organizations and regional and global security issues, the president's office said, adding that representatives of several Estonian firms with interests in these sectors had accompanied the president.
Fruitful meeting with @SwedishPM Löfven in Stockholm to discuss - cooperation in #digitalization, trusted connectivity, trade and investments, meeting #climate goals and regional security pic.twitter.com/bTVAtqNgWs
— Kersti Kaljulaid (@KerstiKaljulaid) September 27, 2021
The Estonian embassy in Stockholm also hosted a round table on digitalization opportunities and the challenges in that field, while visit AI Sweden, which the president's office said was Estonia's most important artificial intelligence partner organization in the region, in the interests of finding cooperation areas and challenges in building up the digital state.
The visit was also aimed at marking 100 years of Estonian-Swedish diplomatic relations, a milestone reached this year.
The president, who hosted Crown Princess Victoria in Tallinn in 2018, is returning to Estonia late on Monday, her office says.
Her final state visit - the highest level of foreign visit an Estonian president can make - was to Kenya earlier this month.
Kaljulaid leaves office on October 11 after her five-year term ends, and will be succeeded as head of state by Alar Karis, who was elected by the Riigikogu at the end of August.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte