Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said on Tuesday that the inauguration of an Israeli embassy in Tallinn was “a historic milestone in bilateral relations.”

Tsahkna and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar said during a joint press conference in the city ahead of the embassy’s official opening that they looked forward to strengthening ties between the two nations.

“Later today, we will officially open the Embassy of Israel in Tallinn,” said Tshakna.

“This is a moving day here in Tallinn,” said Sa’ar.

Estonia opened its embassy in Israel in 2009. Israel should have reciprocated a long time ago, said Sa’ar on Tuesday.

Sa’ar made the decision at the beginning of July to open an embassy in the Baltic nation.

The embassy, he said at Tuesday’s press conference, “is a manifestation of our determination to strengthen relations between our countries at all levels, political, economic and people-to-people ties.”

Tsahkna thanked Sa’ar for carrying through on his promise to open the embassy, a pledge he made during a visit to Estonia four months ago. “For us, it means a lot, because [being] a very small country as we are, it is important to have a full-scale embassy here,” said Tsahkna.

The foreign ministers underscored their countries’ commonalities. “We’re living in tough neighborhoods and many things we share between each other,” said Tsahkna.

“We had to fight from our inception until today against countries larger than ourselves, against terrorist armies that seek our elimination,” said Sa’ar.

Israel’s foreign minister described Israel and Estonia as “nations of democracy and innovation” which complement one another, noting that Estonia’s world-leading e-governance and public sector efficiency fit perfectly with Israel’s top-ranking cybersecurity.

Sa’ar and Tsahkna noted that practical cooperation was already underway. The Estonian foreign minister referred to noise in the hall coming from discussions between Estonian and Israeli business representatives.

Sa’ar noted that he had brought a sizable business delegation with him from Israel, and that 50 Israeli and Estonian companies were holding a joint economic seminar that day “in the fields of information and communications technology, defense and cyber.”

“This partnership is a promise for both our countries,” he said.

The Israeli foreign minister went on to say that the embassy in Tallinn was Israel’s response to reports that Iran had attempted to assassinate Israel’s ambassador to Mexico.

“We will continue to strengthen Israel’s relation with nations around the world,” he said, noting he was “especially happy” to open the embassy in Estonia given the “special connection” between the two countries.

The post Israel, Estonia mark ‘historic milestone’ with embassy opening appeared first on JNS.org.