Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Legislation, Security

"The draft of the budget that I have seen was probably for three million euros, all told," Eerik-Niiles Kross, member of the Riigikogu foreign affairs committee, said on a talk show of KUKU radio.

Another member of the same standing committee, Andres Herkel, said that aside from campaigning expenses additional money will be needed also to serve as a member of the Security Council for two years.

The government endorsed on April 28 the fiscal strategy for 2017-2020, approving one million euros in support for Estonia's UN Security Council campaign in 2017-2018. The goal of getting a seat on the Security Council is included in both the coalition agreement and the government's action plan.

The more active period of campaigning will begin next year. In drawing up state budget strategies for coming years, Estonia's candidacy for the UN Security Council will be taken into consideration and additional funding will be sought according to the campaign's needs, spokespeople for the Foreign Ministry said at the beginning of this month.

Estonia considers Romania to be its principal competitor for a temporary seat on the United Nations Security Council in 2020-2021 elections for which will be held in June 2019. Under UN rotation rules, every year five non-permanent members of the Security Council are replaced. In June this year, for instance, one country will be elected from the Africa group, one from the Asia-Pacific group, one from the Latin America and Caribbean group, and two from the Western European group.

"We will assess the need for additional funding for the campaign on an ongoing basis, we are entitled to seek more money if necessary. The most intensive part of the campaign should take place before the vote to be taken in June 2019," spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry Mariann Sudakov told BNS on Tuesday.

If Estonia gets elected, the government must adopt a new decision on funding.

"According to our estimates administration, personnel and representation costs in both years could be in the range of one million euros," Sudakov added.