Stenbock House, 16 October 2023 – Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas will be on a working visit to France on 18 October, in the course of which she will be meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. She will be accompanied on her visit by a business delegation of Estonian energy companies. While in France, the European Iron Lady will also be speaking at a conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the French news magazine L’Express, at which she will also be awarded the L’Express Europe prize.
In her meeting with President Macron, Prime Minister Kallas will talk about support for Ukraine and raising the cost of aggression for Russia. Security cooperation and enhancing relations between Estonia and France will also be discussed, as will EU matters, including the union’s expansion.
Ahead of their meeting, Prime Minister Kallas and President Macron will be making statements to the press at 12:15 (French time) on 18 October. This will be livestreamed on the French President’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@ELYSEE/streams.
Prime Minister Kallas will also attend a business seminar at the Estonian embassy in Paris which will focus on energy and green technologies. This is a field in which there is great potential for partnerships between Estonia and France, and we are interested in bolstering cooperation between companies in our two countries. The seminar is being organised in cooperation with the umbrella organisation of French companies MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France). The Estonian business delegation includes Elcogen, Fusebox, Skeleton Technologies, StarGate Hydrogen, Sunly and UpCatalyst.
During the visit, Estonian Minister of Economic Affairs and Information Technology Tiit Riisalo and French Minister for Foreign Trade, Economic Attractiveness and French Nationals Abroad Olivier Becht will be signing a mutual statement of intent on cooperation in cleantech.
Prime Minister Kallas will also be giving the closing address at a conference dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the French news magazine L’Express. The conference is entitled “C’était bien avant, ça sera mieux demain” or ‘It was good yesterday, it will be better tomorrow’. The event will bring together participants from the worlds of politics, culture, business and science. During the conference the head of government will be awarded the L’Express Europe award (Prix de L’Europe).
