Mihkelson’s USA visit to focus on relations with Trump administration
Chairman of the Riigikogu’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson (IRL), is currently on a visit to the United States. On his schedule are the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s Transatlantic Forum as well as meetings with leading members of the US Congress.
On Monday and Tuesday Mihkelson will participate in NATO’s Transatlantic Forum in Washington, D.C., where the political changes in the United States and the European Union as well as ongoing problems in the Middle East will be discussed.
Mihkelson will attend the Transatlantic Forum in a double role, as he is also the deputy chairman of a subcommittee of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. As stated in a press release by the Riigikogu on Monday, Mihkelson’s priorities are the continuation and strengthening of transatlantic cooperation in NATO, a point he sees as especially important now, as a new administration is about to take over in the United States.
“The role of the United States as the leader of the free world is irrefutable, especially now, when the best solutions for keeping peace and stability have to be found together with the European allies in a chain of international challenges that are growing more and more complicated,” Mihkelson said.
Transatlantic relations after the Warsaw Summit and presidential elections in America will be discussed at the meeting in Washington, D.C. Relations of the EU’s institutions with the incoming Trump administration will also be addressed, as well as the challenges faced in relations with Russia.
Other topics to be discussed are the Middle East, and tackling new threats arising from terrorism.
From Tuesday to Thursday, Mihkelson will have meetings with the leading members of the U.S. Senate as well as the House of Representatives, John McCain, Mitch McConnell, Bob Corker, Ed Royce, and others. The impact of the U.S. presidential elections on bilateral relations will be discussed in these meetings.