by Steve Roman
Friday, April 08, 2011
"Establishment of diplomatic relations with Somalia is directly connected to Estonia's participation in Atalanta, the European Union military operation for protecting ships in the vicinity of Somalia from pirate attacks," Paet said in a Foreign Ministry press release.
He noted that Estonian teams working on ATALANTA have to interact with ships sailing under the Somali flag, a process that would be made easier by formal diplomatic relations.
Paet added that establishing diplomatic relations with as many countries as possible would provide better protection for Estonian citizens and better represent the country.
Estonia currently has diplomatic relations with 168 states, the most recent additions to the list being Haiti and the Indian Ocean island nation of Comoros, which were added last year.