Speaker visiting Estonia and Finland

Anton Tabone, Speaker of the House of Representatives, is taking part in the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in Tallinn, Estonia, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The conference, organised by the Riigikogu, the Estonian Parliament, in co-operation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, brings together the Presidents and Speakers of the 46 member states of the Council of Europe together with representatives of the national parliaments of Canada, Israel and Mexico as observers.

The Tallinn conference follows a series of two-yearly conferences that started in 1973 when the Speakers and Presidents of the European Parliamentary Assemblies, together with the President of the Assembly of the Council of Europe and the President of the Assembly of the European Communities met for the first time in Paris.

The conference in Tallinn will debate two important themes - "Bridge-building through parliamentary diplomacy" and "The role of parliaments in promoting pluralistic democracy at home and abroad."

The conference will be addressed by Mr René van der Linden, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Conference participants will be received by Estonian President Arnold Ruutel.

Following his participation at the Tallinn conference, Mr Tabone, along with other participants, will travel to Helsinki to attend a one-day activity marking the 100th anniversary of the 1906 parliamentary reform in Finland.

Mr Tabone will attend a special session of the Eduskunta, the Finnish Parliament, and will also be received by the President of Finland, Tarja Kaarina Halonen.