The Maryland Estonia Exchange Council (MEEC), which facilitates sister state and sister city relationships between Maryland and Estonia, has ramped up its activities this fall with COVID restrictions easing. Estonia’s envoy to the U.S., Ambassador Kristjan Prikk, is showing his support for the organization and the burgeoning ties it has helped to create.  Ambassador Prikk arrived at his post in Washington in May of this year.  This is his third assignment to the Estonian embassy in DC, having previously served as defense counsellor (2010-2013) and as a diplomat covering trade and economic issues (2002-2006). 

MEEC held its annual board meeting on September 18^th with over 20 board members, embassy staff, Maryland state and city government representatives, and local Maryland Estonians in attendance.  Topics of discussion included a review of past activities, planning for upcoming events, and fundraising.  Maryland Secretary of State John Wobensmith, who oversees the sister state relationship from his office, and Ambassador Prikk gave remarks in support of MEEC’s work.  An overview of Maryland National Guard State Partnership Program exchanges with the Estonian Defense Forces and Kaitseliit – past and future – was presented by the program’s director.

The next major event took place on October 1^st, with the dedication of the Salisbury-Tartu Friendship Bridge honoring the sister city relationship between those two cities.  Maryland senators Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, along with Ambassador Prikk and Secretary Wobensmith, participated in the ceremony hosted by Salisbury mayor Jake Day.  Coverage of the event by the local ABC affiliate and newspaper can be found at www.wmdt.com and www.delmarvanow.com by searching for “Salisbury Tartu bridge.”  The Salisbury-Tartu sister city partnership began in 1999 and includes an active relationship and exchanges between Salisbury University and the University of Tartu.

The final event on MEEC’s fall schedule was hosting Ambassador Prikk and his family at the annual United States Sailboat Show in Annapolis on October 16^th.  The family are avid sailors and took the opportunity to view the boats on display while visiting Tallinn’s sister city in Maryland.  The day ended at the Eastport Yacht Club, which signed a partnership agreement with the Kalev Yacht Club in Pirita in 2018 (see tinyurl.com/KalevEastportInsta).

The special relationship between Estonia and Maryland started in the early 1990s as part of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program at the end of the Cold War. The Maryland National Guard was linked to the Estonian Kaitseliit (Home Guard) as part of the National Guard Bureau’s State Partnership Program, which established connections between state National Guard units and defense forces of then-newly independent Post-Cold War republics. Since 2003 MEEC has been coordinating the non-military links between Estonia and Maryland.  More information about MEEC is available at marylandestoniaexchangecouncil.org and on its Facebook page.