Mart Laar hits out at Estonian foreign policy 'switch' on Palestine
Former prime minister of Estonia Mart Laar has strongly criticized Estonia's decision to vote in favor of September's UN resolution on Palestine and the apparent change in foreign policy stance on this issue that that meant.
In an interview with Postimees, Laar said, "I did not like this decision."
"I understand that Estonia is trying to be very clever and engage in realpolitik, but this has tended never to work out well for us," he went on.
Laar rejected the idea that values played a role in the decision, arguing that this claim was but a "fig leaf."
He asked: "What value is it really when the only democracy in the region trying to defend itself is being harassed?"
Laar described the move as an attempt "to capitulate into the mass of the majority and abandon one's positions, in order to please that majority."
Estonia's Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200), has defended the official UN vote, asserting that Estonia's foreign policy direction had not changed.
He said: "Estonia had no other option but to support the General Assembly resolution, which expresses support for the International Court of Justice and calls on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian territories."
Tsahkna stressed that the vote was about upholding international law, and not about taking sides in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
The foreign minister conceded that ensuring adherence to international law was becoming increasingly difficult, but maintained that the vote was a necessary step in supporting the UN's legal framework.
Estonia's vote also reflects broader divisions within the EU and the international community on the Israel-Palestine issue.
While some EU countries, including neighboring Finland, as well as Belgium and France, voted in favor of the resolution, others, including CEE nations the Czech Republic and Hungary, voted against it.
The U.S., which Estonia's foreign policy line is usually aligned with, voted against the resolution.
On September 18, 2024, Estonia voted in favor of a UN resolution supporting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and calling on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories, aligning with its commitment to international law.
A historian by profession, Mart Laar, 64, was prime minister of Estonia over two separate terms, 1992-1994 and 1999-2002.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Aleksander Krjukov
Source: Postimees
