ESTONIA: Member states of the European Union which had already ratified the Constitutional Treaty should not be asked to ratify a second version of the document, Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet said on a visit to Dublin this week.
He pointed out that a total of 15 member states, including his own, had ratified the treaty at this stage. The Estonian parliament had ratified the document on Europe Day - May 9th - and Finland might be ratifying next month.
"For the future, our first preference is that we should avoid the situation that all those 15 countries have to ratify 'Constitutional Treaty Volume II' or something like this," he told The Irish Times.
As an alternative, there was the German proposal for a "Social Declaration" which could be added to the document to resolve internal political problems in particular countries.
Mr Paet's stance was similar to the position taken by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who said in Paris last Monday that Ireland was opposed to the idea of a "mini-treaty", as suggested in France, and was not in favour of "unravelling" or "cherry-picking" from the existing document.
Mr Paet was accompanying a business delegation of about 20 members, which, he said, was the "biggest so far" to travel from his country to Ireland.
He also held a two-hour meeting on Tuesday with Mr Ahern.
Expressing concern about current difficulties between Georgia and Russia, he said the main problem was the presence of Russian troops in Georgia against the will of the government in Tbilisi. There was a "question mark" over the territorial integrity of Georgia and, in addition, Georgians were being deported from Russia.
"All this is very worrying. The EU and the international community should be very clear that it's not acceptable in the 21st century," he said.
"There is quite high risk, so that it is very important both sides should avoid emotions and behaviour which can be seen as provocative."
Estonia has 40 military personnel in Iraq at present and Mr Paet said he was opposed to withdrawal until the Iraqi government advised it was safe to do so: "It [would be] quite wrong to come out today, where there is still quite a fragile situation and the possibility of civil war."
On the issue of migration, he said there were currently about 3,000 Estonian citizens in Ireland.
"We are grateful that Ireland decided in 2004 to open its labour market for new members of the EU."
However, he said he was very pleased that Estonians who had come to Ireland for work were now coming back to take up opportunities at home: unemployment had fallen from 14 per cent down to 2 or 3 per cent in the last three or four years.
On relations with Russia, he said practical and economic co-operation was "functioning well" and that the only "problematic" area was the political one.
"Unfortunately, still there are some high-ranking politicians in Russia who don't accept emotionally that Estonia got its independence back in 1991 and turned towards the EU and Nato."