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Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid speaks at a joint press conference with her Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (not in photo) in Tallinn, Estonia, June 18, 2019. Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid Tuesday met here with her Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic to discuss bilateral cooperations in the fields of economy and digitalization as well as Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in the first half of 2020. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)

TALLINN, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid Tuesday met here with her Croatian counterpart Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic to discuss bilateral cooperations in the fields of economy and digitalization as well as Croatia's presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in the first half of 2020.

Speaking at a joint press conference after the meeting, Kaljulaid spoke highly of the diplomatic relationship between Estonia and Croatia, "we are both members of multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, World Trade Organization, the European Union and NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization)".

She said that Estonia would like to support Croatia and work with the country during the latter's presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) in the first half of 2020.

"As friends, partners and allies and also being both small countries at the crossroads between cultures and civilizations, we firmly believe in the rule-based international order," said the Estonian president, appreciating her Croatian counterpart's being a strong supporter multilaterally and globally.

She stressed the two countries' openness as small economies to encourage innovation, and mentioned that Estonia gained a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2020-2021.

Kaljulaid lauded Croatia's participation in the NATO defense cooperation in Poland and Lithuania, as well as the process of joining the Tallinn-based NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence,

"We are not competitors, but strategic partners in digital development," she noted.

For her part, the Croatian president said, "Croatia and Estonia have close and friendly relations with a number of common interests, and a number of common positions in the European Union", listing the Multiannual Financial Framework as one of the common interests right now, in particular the funding for cohesion, agriculture and regional development.

"I believe, there is a lot of potential, however, in developing our political and bilateral cooperation," said Grabar-Kitarovic, referring to cyber defense cooperation and officer education, as well as more robust economic cooperation in the fields of construction industry, transport infrastructure, electric industry, ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and tourism, etc.

The Croatian president said that she is looking forward to the Three Seas Initiative summit in Estonia next year to promote more business to business connection and innovation for the development of the Baltic, Black and Adriatic Sea countries including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria and Croatia.

She pledged to continue to take measures to improve Croatia's investment climate to attract more foreign investment and help investors in Croatia, appreciating Estonia's support for Croatia's expected accession to the Schengen Area and the eurozone.

Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas and Parliament President Henn Polluaas also meet with the Croatian president.