Mr Raivo Aeg, the newly appointed Minister of Justice of the Republic of Estonia, accompanied by a high-level national delegation, met today with Eurojust's President, Mr Ladislav Hamran, and other Eurojust representatives, to express his country's strong support to Eurojust's continuing fight against transnational criminality. The Minister fully acknowledges that Eurojust needs adequate financial and human resources to continue its successful work and effectively manage its constantly growing caseload. Further purpose of the Estonian Minister's visit at Eurojust's premises in The Hague was to explore avenues of reinforcing the existing EU-wide cooperation in criminal matters through the Estonian Desk.

The discussions of Mr Aeg with Mr Hamran and Mr Klaus Meyer-Cabri, Vice-President of Eurojust and National Member for Germany at Eurojust, focused on raising awareness in the Member States of Eurojust's crucial rule in combatting serious cross-border crime and getting justice done. Ms Laura Vaik, Estonian National Member at Eurojust, further introduced the Minister into Eurojust's judicial cooperation tools, such as coordination meetings, coordination centres, and joint investigation teams and proposed practical measures to strengthen and expand Estonia's cooperation with Eurojust. The Estonian Minister was also welcomed by Mr Nick Panagiotopoulos, Eurojust's Administrative Director, who reiterated the need for sufficient funding for Eurojust to be able to maintain its high level of service to European citizens.

Photo: © Eurojust. From left to right: Mr Meyer-Cabri, H.E. Mr Aeg, Mr Hamran, Ms Perling (Prosecutor General of Estonia), Ms Siitam-Nyiri (Deputy Secretary General), Ms Vaik, Ms Inkinen (Advisor to Secretary General on EU Affairs).