Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid said during an interview with Latvia’s public broadcaster on November 7 that the Baltic states have their own separate identities.
"If you see someone from Belgium or Luxembourg or the Netherlands you don't tell them that you are 'Beneluxian',” she said. “Why should you tell Baltic people, or Nordic, for that matter. We each have our own identity.”
“Which of course doesn't mean we dont cooperate closely. I think Nordic-Baltic six or eight [...] is a very important power in the EU,” she added. “We are all small, market orientated economies [and we] really need to work [so that the] EU stays forever.”
“We have lots of common interests, which doesn't mean we need to have a common brand,” said Kaljulaid.
She went to underscore joint Baltic projects, besides Rail Baltic, that include discussions on EU budget, independent energy production, and other issues.
“These are all things that we together everyday without much thinking that we re doing this together because we aree so interlinked,” she said.
“We share all our values”.
