EER: Nord Stream Decision Will Not Impact Relations with Russia, Says Minister
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet says turning down Nord Stream's request for exploring the Estonian seabed won't hurt political relations with Russia.
"I don't see that connection here; Nord Stream is a clearly commercial project," Paet said on ETV Thursday night.
He said Nord Stream had long ceased to be a purely Russia-driven project, but included interests from many Western European countries.
"It's an international consortium, and far from being just Russian shareholders or Russian company representatives," Paet said.
Nevertheless, the main argument for turning down the request was out of fear that a foreign company, rather than Estonian researchers, could potentially obtain important information about Estonian natural resources, according to Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. MORE