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Estonia has not decided on its future participation in China s 17+1 format, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets (Center) said on Sunday. Lithuania has quit the forum and several Estonian politicians have urged Estonia to do the same. Commenting to ERR, Liimets said: Estonia has not made a decision on further participation in the 17 + 1 format. She reiterated that Estonia is guided by its security interests and values in its relations with China. We are cooperating with China in various fields, but we have really reduced our participation in the 17+1 format. For example, at the meeting in February, Estonia was represented by the foreign minister instead of the prime minister, Liimets said. ....
Veteran politician Andrus Ansip does not beat around the bush. The galloping interview with the former prime minister and European Commission vice president races through Estonian domestic politics where more than a few players get slapped, touches on the coronavirus crisis and fall presidential elections, before arriving at a recipe for casting off the shadows of doping in Estonian skiing. Did you ever feel that the second government of Jüri Ratas – the coalition of the Center Party, EKRE and Isamaa – could stay together for four years as they managed to sort out all their scandals and stick together? I was against the coalition from the first and I m glad it finally ended. Considerable damage was done to Estonia. ....
Minister of Foreign Affairs Eva-Maria Liimets (Center) reiterated that Estonia prefers to deal with China outside of the 17+1 format, either bilaterally or alongside the European Union. Estonia prefers to have cooperation with China also in the format of 27+1, meaning together with all EU member states, she said at a press conference on Thursday in response to a question about Lithuania s desire to move away from the format. Liimets said Estonia created its principles of international relations 30 years ago and has since continued to keep these in mind when acting on the international stage. For Estonia, we have made our decisions 30 years back when it was possible after our re-independence, that our cooperation and aim in the international arena is to protect our values, we prefer values-based cooperation, she said. ....
08 Mar 2021 - 20:44 FILE PHOTO: Britain s Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, are interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in this undated handout photo. Harpo Productions/Joe Pugliese/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo Reuters Some 17.1 million Americans watched Oprah Winfrey s bombshell television interview with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, broadcaster CBS said on Monday. CBS said Sunday s two-hour interview, in which Harry and Meghan accused the royal family of racism and of failing to protect them from negative media coverage, drew the biggest audience for any entertainment special since the Oscars telecast in February 2020, which was watched by 23.6 million viewers. It was also the most-watched non Super Bowl event on a Sunday in prime time in over a year, CBS said. The National Football League s Super Bowl regularly draws an audience of around 100 million and is the highest-rated TV event in the United States. ....
Observers raise concerns over China s investments in Balkans amid growing trade deficit ANI | Updated: Feb 23, 2021 11:46 IST Beijing [China], February 23 (ANI): A decade after the establishment of the 17+1 initiative, many European countries are increasingly dissatisfied with the results, citing a growing trade deficit with China, a failure to create jobs and Beijing s slowness in opening up its markets to agricultural exports, reported South China Morning Post (SCMP). For a long time, China was seen as a new exciting potential investor that would bring a new impetus to [Central and Eastern European] economies, said Filip Sebok, an analyst with the Prague-based think tank the Association for International Affairs. But in most cases, the actual results of the Chinese investments have fallen behind expectations. ....