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RIYADH: Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna has described his visit to ������Ƶ as “historic,” citing a landmark trade agreement signed with the Kingdom this week and deepening cooperation on digital transformation, green energy, and innovation under Vision 2030.

In an interview with Arab News, Tsahkna outlined how the new General Trade Agreement marks a turning point in bilateral ties. He also addressed the wider crises shaking the Middle East and Europe — from Israel’s unprecedented airstrike in Qatar to Russia’s escalating war on Ukraine.

“My visit to ������Ƶ is, I can call it historic because we’re having very good relations bilaterally,” Tsahkna said.

“We have had very high level meetings here. And also his highness, the prime minister visited Estonia. We have very good personal relations. But this time I came together with a business delegation, and these companies are mainly already in ������Ƶ, in the region.”

The two countries signed their first comprehensive trade agreement on Tuesday in Riyadh, witnessed by Tsahkna and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.

“������Ƶ values Estonia as a trusted partner in building future-ready solutions,” Prince Faisal said in a statement following the signing.

“This agreement lays the foundation for deeper cooperation in digital government, clean energy, and advanced industries — strengthening ties between our nations and creating new opportunities for our people.”

The deal has already yielded results, with Estonian company Stargate Hydrogen inking two memoranda of understanding with Saudi entities including the Research, Development and Innovation Authority and NEOM’s ENOWA to accelerate green hydrogen development.

Tsahkna said there was a natural alignment between Estonia’s e-governance expertise and ������Ƶ’s rapid transformation.

“������Ƶ has passed, already, a long way, fulfilling this Vision 2030,” he said. “What we can offer as well from our side is experience, to change the public sector services.

“The principle, what we in Estonia have is that every person, every citizen, must be part of our services. There is no one we let down somewhere. And the digitalization of the public sector services allows that.”

Estonia is widely recognized as a global leader in digital governance, with 100 percent of public services available online and secure platforms such as its X-Road data exchange and e-ID system adopted in more than 20 countries.

Its expertise in cybersecurity and digital identity has already found applications in Gulf economies, making it a natural partner for ������Ƶ’s efforts to modernize government and industry.

Estonia is already a member of the Riyadh-based Digital Cooperation Organization, a global multilateral body established in 2020 that aims to enable digital prosperity for all by accelerating the inclusive and sustainable growth of the digital economy.

“������Ƶ has a leading role in the region, but we take it, as well, as a gateway globally, out towards Africa and many other countries,” said Tsahkna. “This initiative (DCO) is interesting and very important for us as well.”

Tsahkna stressed that Estonia’s approach relies heavily on private sector innovation. “Why I’m talking about the private sector is that we have a rule that we do our innovation together with the private sector, because innovation is coming from the private sector.

“And this is something, exactly, what we see here as well. We launched the Saudi-Estonian Business Council here as well, so this is something that our businesses can work together on as well — government-to-government agreements.”

Tsahkna also pointed to renewable energy as a key area for mutual learning. “We have set a goal for renewable energy for 2030,” he said. It’s really ambitious. And there are many things we can learn from ������Ƶ.

“We have some technologies that maybe we can develop together, but also we need this expertise in Estonia, because we have the same goals actually to fulfill, even if we’re geographically a bit far away from each other.”

The Estonian foreign minister used his interview with Arab News to address Israel’s unprecedented airstrike in Qatar on Tuesday, which targeted senior Hamas leaders, including their chief negotiator, during active ceasefire talks with the US and Israel.

The strike took place in the West Bay Lagoon district and killed six people, including a Qatari security officer.

Israel claimed the operation was in response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and a recent shooting in Jerusalem, insisting it was a unilateral act meant to target those orchestrating violence against Israelis.

Qatar, a key US ally and longtime mediator in Gaza ceasefire negotiations, denounced the attack as a grave violation of international law and its sovereignty, with reactions of outrage and condemnation from much of the international community.

“We are living in very intense times. And the Israeli attack against Qatar, we have loudly condemned,” Tsahkna said. “We discussed this matter as well, with his highness, the (Saudi) foreign minister. So our position is very clear. This is a question of sovereignty, which is, for Estonia, a question of principle.”

Drawing a parallel with Russian attacks in Europe, he warned of a wider erosion of international rules.

“We saw close to 20 military drones entering NATO territory in Poland and NATO planes were (launched). So what I say, this is like the domino effect about the international rules and international law.

“And this is something we share as well, the same principles, with ������Ƶ and the other colleagues and partners, because, it’s like the domino effect, if someone is going to break the rules, everybody’s going to try that.”

Tsahkna reiterated Estonia’s consistent position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Estonia has had a very clear position over the years in supporting the two-state solution, and that is the only way out from this conflict,” he said.

“Unfortunately, we don’t see the progress and goodwill as well. And of course, the attack against Qatar doesn’t support this process at all because Qatar and also ������Ƶ and many other countries here in the region are playing the key role for bringing these negotiations together.”

He confirmed that Estonia will join the declaration on two states during the upcoming UN General Assembly week. “This humanitarian catastrophe is really, really something we don’t want to see,” he added, referring to the situation in Gaza.

Asked about the forthcoming Saudi-French summit on a two-state solution in New York, Tsahkna said: “I’m a very optimistic person. And Estonia is supporting, clearly, over the years, not only by words but by actions as well, the two-state solution.

“It is a good initiative. ������Ƶ and France are pushing it heavily. But we can adopt declarations, which is very important, and there will be more governments who are recognizing Palestine as a state as well, but the main importance is: What can we do in real life?”

He cautioned, however, that political will is still lacking. “In real life, unfortunately, we see no willingness for even a ceasefire. Exactly the same thing is happening with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and Russia against Ukraine.”

He added: “Every night we see more than 800 attacks against the civilian people in Ukraine. And unfortunately, Putin has no willingness for any kind of peace, even a ceasefire.”

For Tsahkna, the Riyadh visit is about much more than one-off business deals. “We are here for long term commitments and our businesses are here to stay. And also the other way around. 

“Estonia is the best country and we have the best environment for startup, for investments. We have 12 unicorns. It means more than $1 billion companies coming from Estonia. We may not seem to be a very big country, but actually we have 1.3 million people living there.”

Despite geographical distance, he insisted that Estonia and ������Ƶ share more common challenges than many realize.

“It’s values based cooperation. And we see as well that, on an educational, cultural level, we can have more cooperation,” he said.

“I feel here as well that we need to talk more about what we have done in Estonia, because I think that people don’t know what we really do as a small Nordic country, somewhere in the north.

“But in real life we have more similarities, more challenges actually together than we actually think. So this is our duty.”