Estonia has parliamentary friendship groups with 26 countries.

"Parliamentary friendship groups help MPs communicate with other national parliaments, carry out Estonia's foreign policy, and promote our country around the world," the Riigikogu states on its website.

A recent visit by the Riigikogu's Estonia-China parliamentary group to China has been repeatedly criticized in recent weeks. Based on The Economist's Democracy Index (DI), however, Estonia has parliamentary friendship groups with several other countries with authoritarian regimes: the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Angola and Bahrain.

ERR inquired with MP Andres Sutt (Reform), chair of the Saudi Arabia and UAE friendship groups, regarding why Estonia maintains parliamentary friendship groups with these two countries.

"The reason is quite simple – our businesses have quite a bit of economic cooperation with these countries," Sutt replied. "That is also why we can help at the parliamentary level – and not just can, but must also help."

He stated that these friendship groups have never visited Saudi Arabia or the UAE.

"Rather, when delegations from there have come here, for example, then we've held meetings," the two groups' chair explained. "And I myself have visited the UAE quite a bit, starting since my time as minister."

Visits by parliamentary groups to these countries are unlikely to happen either, he added.

"In terms of both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, northern countries are actually very active," Sutt continued. "All G7 countries are present there. I'd hazard a guess that actually most EU states that aren't either in the G7 or northern countries are as well. It's a rapidly growing region in the world, and if we can help our businesses open doors and cooperate there, well, then that's exactly how it should be."

Prince on a white horse

Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) MP Helle-Moonika Helme explained why Estonia maintains a friendship group with Bahrain – an island nation in the Persian Gulf where the king holds almost absolute power. According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, the country also has issues with human rights as well, with reports of torture and abuse, as well as the harassment by authorities of critics.

According to Helme, the Estonia-Bahrain friendship group stems from a visit to Bahrain, where one of the country's princes expressed admiration for Estonia and its horse stables.

"I'm part of a parliamentary delegation known as the IPU, or Inter-Parliamentary Union, which means that around twice a year, big gatherings take place where parliamentarians and delegations from countries all over the world come together," she said, explaining how she first ended up visiting Bahrain. "Nearly every country is represented."

During the previous Riigikogu, an IPU assembly was held in Bahrain. "And we were hosted then," she said. "[Reform MP] Toomas Kivimägi – again Toomas Kivimägi – was president of that IPU delegation. We had a very high-level assembly."

Helme explained that Bahrain as a country is built around the king's family, and that the reason why the Estonian delegation was hosted at such a high level had to do with the fact that a prince who is very passionate about horses had once heard that Estonia has good stables.

"He got this idea that he would travel to Estonia – pack up his 50 horses and come here – and participate in some competition," she explained.

The planned trip to Estonia, however, ended up being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic – the prince couldn't secure a travel permit for his horses.

"To avoid angering the royal family too much, it was decided at the state level there at the time that he could come with one horse – he got a permit for one horse" the EKRE MP recalled.

"He came to Estonia with that horse and took a photo somewhere in a blueberry forest, in a pine forest, sitting on his horse – a prince on a white horse," she continued. "That photo from Estonia reached hundreds of millions of people instantaneously. And he was incredibly impressed with Estonia. That's the backstory for why we were hosted."

According to Helme, following their reception in Bahrain came a proposal by their local parliamentary chamber to form a friendship group, which both sides agreed to establish.

She also noted that assessing Bahrain's democratic status is not a simple matter.

"As for Bahrain's democracy, there's the official view, and then there's the unofficial one," Helme said. "We met a woman from Estonia there who has lived there for 19 years. She gave us a very honest, very direct [overview]. We could ask everything you could never [ask] at the official level. The official level always paints too polished a portrait."

Judgments about democracy can vary widely, she acknowledged.

"She gave us a very honest picture of what's really going on in that country – of how people live there, how their legislation works," the EKRE MP said. "The situation for women as well, for example. Bahrain is actually – unlike the UAE – very democratic. That same prince and the king himself are very liberal in terms of the Arab world as a whole, and unlike its parliament, where perhaps these more extreme forces are represented more."

She added that in Bahrain, the parliament is elected by the people.

"The king has the right to review and change the parliament's decisions," she continued. "And the king has refused to confirm several decisions. On the contrary, he's trying to liberalize the country."

Helme noted that because Bahrain is a very small island nation, their delegation got a very thorough look at the country. "As a result, there is no reason why we shouldn't have a friendship group [with Bahrain] in the parliament," she said.

Even so, she clarified that she has never visited Bahrain together with the Riigikogu friendship group, nor are there plans for such a trip.

"That Facebook post seen hundreds of millions of times – it gained Estonia more visibility than the Ministry of Foreign Affairs could have managed with who knows how big a budget and over how many years," Helme underscored.

Relations with local diaspora community

Isamaa MP Riina Solman, chair of the Estonia-Azerbaijan parliamentary friendship group, emphasized that the groups in question are not "friendship groups," but rather parliamentary groups.

"The Estonia-Azerbaijan parliamentary friendship group has not visited Azerbaijan during the current Riigikogu," Solman said. "A visit was planned together with an Estonian business delegation, but that was canceled due to the escalation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. There are currently no plans to visit the country."

She noted that the parliamentary group, like the Board of the Riigikogu and representatives of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has met with the Azerbaijani ambassador.

"Emphasized at these meetings are Estonia and the entire EU's interest in easing tensions in the region, as well as our clear stance on issues related to Russia," she said.

The Riigikogu group has likewise hosted Azerbaijan-Estonia parliamentary friendship group chair Jala Ahmedova in Estonia as well as significantly boosted engagement with the Azerbaijani community in Estonia, participating in important community celebrations and events.

"Relations with the local community are very warm," Solman confirmed.

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