Visiting U.S. Senator John McCain (L), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas attend a joint press conference in Tallinn, Estonia, on Dec. 27, 2016. Juri Ratas on Tuesday maintained the Baltic country's commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)
TALLINN, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas on Tuesday maintained the Baltic country's commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting U.S. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Ratas said that NATO's support is very important for "not only our state, but also our people."
He termed Estonia as "a very initiative member in NATO," making commitment to strong support of negotiation and cooperation between the European Union (EU) and NATO, and the defense finance of 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as other programs in defense policies.
McCain, who led the visiting delegation of U.S. Senators, appreciated Estonia's continuing commitment to NATO.
He noted that he was convinced that America's relationship with NATO will remain the same after Donald Trump was elected as U.S. president.
He added that however, more NATO partners will be urged to maintain the 2 percent threshold, as NATO is facing different aspects of challenges in terms of regional security including cyber security, which was discussed during his one-hour meeting with Ratas at the prime minister's office.
