"Rail Baltic will bring Central Europe closer to us in terms of time and will create a completely new transport corridor," Kaljulaid was quoted by spokespeople as saying in proclaiming the law.

"With large-scale infrastructure projects there is no way to predict every little detail, but we want to be better and more quickly connected with countries that belong to a similar value space and common economic area with us, and we cannot allow ourselves the luxury of not building it," she continued. "I am pleased with the decision."

The president proclaimed six other laws on Thursday; the tax on sweetened beverage, commonly referred to as the sugar tax, was not among them.