"Estonia's ambassador to the UN voted as the government decided," Carlos Kleimann from the government's communications office told ERR.

Before to the vote, Prime Minister Kallas had talks with the prime ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, and Norway.

ERR asked whether Kallas had advised these leaders to vote in favor.

"It is usual for us to coordinate and present our views with our closest partners. Of course, the unity of the Nordic-Baltic region is essential for us and other countries in the region, so reaching a common position is a natural goal. With this in mind, the prime minister presented Estonia's positions to her colleagues. It is good practice and out of respect for the partners not to make this communication public," Kleimann said.

Kleimann said Estonia had made a well-considered decision.

"The geopolitical situation around us has changed; it is increasingly important from the standpoint of Estonia's security that the war in the Middle East does not escalate further and to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is of existential importance for us that Russia is not able to intensify its aggression against Ukraine under the cover of other conflicts. It is equally important that global support for Ukraine grows and that we are not accused of double standards or of focusing on support for Ukraine only. To this end, Estonia joins 142 UN member states in signaling that the political process in the Middle East needs to be accelerated and moved forward as a matter of urgency," Kleimann said.

"Estonia has long supported Palestinian statehood, i.e., we support a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. Recognition of Palestine does not follow from the resolution. Recognition of Palestine is a separate process that requires a decision by the government," he explained.

On May 10, the United Nations General Assembly in New York approved a resolution that upgrades the status of the Palestinian observer state in the global organization and advocates for its full membership.

The vote split the European Union, with 14 countries in favor of the resolution, 11 abstaining, and two votes against it. Hungary and the Czech Republic voted against. Estonia, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Malta and Malta voted in favor. Estonia's closest neighbors Latvia, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden abstained.

Reinsalu: Major change in Estonian foreign policy

Former Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu, leader of the opposition party Isamaa, called Estonia's decision an important change in the country's foreign policy.

Reinsalu said that earlier, when he was foreign minister, he gave a clear instruction in the ministry that if the positions of the EU countries on Palestine were divided in the UN, Estonia would follow the U.S. position.

Former SDE foreign minister and diplomat Marina Kaljurand (SDE) also said that Estonia had changed its policy. "Of course, my recommendation would have been to continue with the previous line, but if it is done this way, I don't see it as a disaster," Kaljurand said in a special episode of ERR's news podcast, "Otse uudistemajast."

"I don't see it as a problem. Yes, Estonia's foreign policy has been that we support the European Union; if the European Union is divided, we will vote like the United States. "Now we have made a small change; a big change would be if we recognized the Palestinian state together with the three countries," Kaljurand said.

Foreign Minister: We called with our colleagues in neighboring countries

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Minister Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200), made the proposal for the vote to the government.

"We take the broader position of the European Union to recognize and acknowledge Estonia's official position on the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine," he said. According to Tsahkna, Estonia's goal was also to stay out of the gray zone when it came to values policy.

Tsahkna also said that he and the prime minister had been on the phone with Nordic and Baltic leaders and foreign ministers on the issue.

"Both I, as foreign minister, and then also the prime minister, called all the foreign ministers and the heads of state of the Nordic and Baltic countries, and we also consulted more broadly with the member states of the European Union to see what positions and what arguments anybody would take. Nobody put pressure on anybody, and we made our positions very clear as to why we were voting in favor of this particular resolution," Tsahkna said.

"As the Estonian foreign minister, I am very clear in my view that we have taken a very important, firm political direction here, which stands for our principles, which stand for the rule of law and international values in a democratic world. We are not going to engage in double standards; we are also committed to upholding accountability for the crimes of international aggression against Ukraine, which includes both the imposition of sanctions and the decision to mobilize frozen assets. In terms of values, the step taken by Estonia was the only possible one," Tsahkna said.

"143 countries voted in favor of the UN resolution. If we had voted against or abstained, we would not have been able to explain to the world our position on the two-state solution, for example. We can explain our position to the United States, which voted against the Palestine resolution, and that would not damaged our alliance," Tsahkna told "AK" on Wednesday.

Explanation of vote

Estonia voted in favor of the resolution to reaffirm its unwavering support for a just and comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on a two-state solution in which the State of Israel lives in peace and security alongside an independent, democratic, sovereign, and viable Palestinian state.

"We support the reinvigoration of the political horizon and international efforts towards this goal," the statement reads.

"Estonia supports the granting of additional rights and privileges to the Palestinian State to participate in the work of the UNGA without setting a precedent and in full compliance with the UN charter, with the exception of voting and submitting nominations to UN organs and maintaining non-member observer status. Estonia's 'yes' vote does not imply the recognition of the Palestinian state," reads the explanation.

Raik: Changing Estonia's foreign policy direction is not justified

Kristi Raik, the deputy director and head of the foreign policy program of the International Center for Defense and Security (ICDS), said Estonia's vote was surprising.

"This is a change from previous policy. In the broader context of foreign policy, it is not very significant. Of course, it would have been more expected if Estonia had remained neutral," Raik told ERR.

Raik said that the European Union has always been divided on the Palestinian issue. There is no common transatlantic position.

She said that this goes hand in hand with a debate on how to do more to convince the countries of the Global South that Ukraine must be supported and that Russia cannot be allowed to win this war, otherwise it will be detrimental to the entire international system.

"This is Estonia's aspiration, as I understand it, so that against the background of this decision, Estonia can say that we do not have double standards, that we support international law both on the Palestinian and on the Ukrainian issue. Estonia will then have better access – so to speak – to those countries that were more skeptical about supporting Ukraine," Raik said.

"But in fact, the main focus of Estonian foreign policy is how to get the maximum amount of military support for Ukraine as quickly as possible. And in the end, the position of the countries of the Global South is of little importance. It's a rather cold way of looking at things, but that's how it is. They're not coming to Ukraine to fight, they're not giving weapons, they might give some symbolic support at best. But I don't think you have to spend a lot of Estonia's diplomatic resources to achieve that," Raik said.

Possible candidacy of Kallas for the post of high representative for foreign affairs

In recent months and weeks, there has been speculation in both the international and Estonian media that Kaja Kallas would be a suitable candidate for the post of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. Kallas herself has not denied her interest in the job.

Politico has also suggested Kaja Kallas as the European Union's foreign policy chief. Politico wrote earlier this year that Kallas's name is coming up more and more in conversations, largely due to Estonia's geographic location. Central and Eastern Europeans are consistently underrepresented in EU leadership.

During the opening debate of the Lennart Meri Conference, she was asked if she would like to hold one of the top positions in the European Union: President of the European Commission, President of the Council of Europe, or High Representative for Foreign Affairs.

"That's a new question, I have never heard it before," Kallas replied in jest.

"Of course, it's an honor to have my name on the issue at all. I have read, seen my name, but that doesn't mean it's a done deal. My name was also mentioned when NATO was looking for a new leader, and we know how that turned out," Kallas said.

"We have been in the Union for 20 years, some of us in NATO for 25 years, and the leadership still comes from the countries that were there 75 years ago. It is fair to say that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe are not fairly represented," Kallas said.

On June 17, the heads of state and government of the EU member states will meet at an informal summit in Brussels to discuss the distribution of top EU posts.

ERR inquired with the government's communications office about any potential connection between Kaja Kallas' interest in the position of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and the partial shift in Estonia's political stance on the status of Palestine.

"Not true. In Estonia, foreign policy positions are shaped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including on this issue," replied Rasmus Ruuda, Director of Government Communications. 

Raik said that the link between the post of High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and the adjustment of direction on Palestine is unlikely.

"I don't think that such maneuvering improves Estonia's position in getting European jobs," she said.

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