On the 22nd and 23rd of April, Tallinn will be the host for the annual unofficial meeting of NATO countries’ Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which will be attended by delegations from up to 56 countries and nearly 400 journalists.
The event will be hosted by Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet.
The preparations for holding the summit already began in November 2009, when NATO’s technical workgroup arrived in Tallinn in order to discuss the technicalities of the event.
Because the event needs increased security measures, the border checks will be restored for a week on the Estonian border and, since guaranteeing security during the meeting will cost more than 80 million kroons, the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked for extra funding from the Government.
The amount requested adds up to 24,227,070 kroons.
The Ministry justified the request with the resources having decreased a substantial amount due to budget cuts. According to the risk analysis compiled by the Security Police Board, the Police and Border Guard will involve 5,000 employees in preparing for and securing the event.
Using the opportunity of the international summit, the opportunity to invite Hillary Clinton has also been mentioned but her appearance at the meeting has not been officially confirmed yet.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Urmas Paet has said that the meeting is one of the biggest foreign policy events taking place in Estonia and it is also said to be one of the biggest events in the history of Estonia.
Jaanus Karlson
www.estonianfreepress.com
