FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ottawa, ON – On Thursday, October 29, Conservative Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs Michael Chong held a phone call with H.E. Toomas Lukk, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to Canada, about Canada-Estonia relations.
MP Chong highlighted several items with the Ambassador, including:
- Canada’s close and friendly ties to Estonia, an ally and partner in NATO. Chong noted that hundreds of Canadian Armed Forces members are deployed in neighbouring Latvia on Operation Reassurance, Canada’s largest current international military operation and part of NATO assurance and deterrence measures, an operation which Conservatives support.
- Conservatives’ belief in expanding trade with democratic allies. He pointed to the opportunities under the new CETA for Canada to expand trade with Estonia, a member of the European Union.
- Conservatives’ belief that Canada should work with Estonia and other European democracies to provide a counter to increasingly authoritarian regimes.
H.E. Toomas Lukk congratulated MP Chong on his appointment and thanked him for the Conservatives’ continued support for close bilateral relations. H.E. Lukk raised bilateral cooperation in the area of cybersecurity, Estonia’s application for observer status at the Arctic Council, its continued support for the release of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor wrongfully detained by China, and the ongoing conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
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