Office of the Spokesperson
The United States and Estonia are close Allies in NATO, share fundamental values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law, and work closely together to advance the security, prosperity, and stability of our shared Euro-Atlantic area and the wider world.
The United States and Estonia recognize NATO as the cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security, share an ironclad commitment to Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and strongly support further strengthening NATO to address existing and emerging threats to transatlantic security. The United States and Estonia note the strategic importance of the Baltic Sea region to the Alliance and to overall Euro-Atlantic security. An active and visible U.S. participation in this region´s security remains vital. The United States and Estonia note the progress made in strengthening NATO´s collective defense and underline the importance of investing in capabilities and the need for fair burden-sharing among Allies.
The United States and Estonia share concerns about the deteriorating state of religious freedom around the world and a belief in the need for nations to work together to protect and ensure the rights of all people to practice their chosen religion at any time anywhere in the world. The United States welcomes and shares Estonia’s commitment to protecting international religious freedom as a fundamental human right and its interest in furthering U.S.-Estonia cooperation as a member of the International Religious Freedom Alliance in the months and years ahead.
The United States and Estonia cooperate closely on cybersecurity and affirm a shared vision of secure and open cyberspace and a commitment to continued collaborative efforts in international security, cyber resilience, and combatting cybercrime. Recalling the joint statement released by the United States and Estonia on June 7, 2019, the two countries envision stable, open and secure cyberspace, in which all countries behave responsibly.
The United States and Estonia look forward to signing a U.S.-Estonia Joint Declaration on 5G Security during the Estonian Prime Minister’s visit to Washington October 30-31, as an important step toward developing a common approach to network security and ensuring a vibrant 5G ecosystem based on free and fair competition, transparency, and the rule of law.
The United States welcomes Estonia’s election to a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council and the United States and Estonia intend to use this opportunity to coordinate closely to contribute to international security, democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights, and the protection and equal treatment of all people without regard to race, ethnicity, or religion.
The United States and Estonia note the strategic importance of the Three Seas Initiative in the context of economic and geopolitical competition in Europe. The Initiative is an opportunity to strengthen the economies of Central and Eastern Europe and to lessen the region’s dependence on malign efforts of other states to leverage infrastructure investments in their own geopolitical interests. The United States and Estonia are cooperating to guarantee that the 2020 Three Seas Initiative Summit in Tallinn will be a success.
The United States and Estonia look forward to further strengthening our partnership and to deepening our cooperation on European and regional security and the key international issues related to the promotion of religious freedom around the world, cybersecurity and 5G, and the Three Seas Initiative.