(Vilnius Comprehensive Electric) Latvia and Estonia announced that they will follow Lithuania to withdraw from the 16+1 cooperation framework between Central and Eastern European countries and China.
Latvia Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that he continued to participate in China -Central and Eastern European cooperation mechanisms, "no longer meets the strategic goals in the current international environment."The Estonian government also issued a similar statement.
The governments of the two countries said in a statement that they will continue to work to establish a constructive and pragmatic relationship with China, while respecting international order and human rights based on regulations.
Representatives of the Foreign Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia said that since 2021, they have not actively participated in this cooperation mechanism, and the government has not made this decision because of any single incident.
Earlier, Lithuania fell into a dispute with China after allowing Taiwan to set up a representative office, and withdrew from the framework with China last year, thinking that this cooperation mechanism did not achieve its original commitment.
When the face -to -face summit was held at the 16+1 cooperation framework last year, the three Baltic countries did not send the president nor sent the prime minister. Instead, the lower -level officials were sent to attend, highlighting the neglect of China.
Latvia exported 162 million euros (about S $ 228 million) to China last year, mainly wood and wood products; Estonia's exports to China were 195 million euros.
Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are still within this cooperation framework.
