Taiwan is donating US$1.2 million to aid Estonia’s efforts to build a shelter for Ukrainian refugees.
Representative to Latvia Andrew Lee (李憲章) on Wednesday signed the agreement on behalf of the Taiwanese government with the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Estonian Centre for International Development to collaborate on the Residential Program for Ukrainian Parentless Children and Foster Families.
“Together, we are standing for democracy and showing authoritarian regimes that like-minded allies will stick together and prevail,” ERR News quoted Estonia-Taiwan Friendship Group chair Kristo Enn Vaga as saying.
Photo courtesy of the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia
The signing ceremony took place at the Estonian parliament, and was attended by six lawmakers: Vaga, Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Marko Mihkelson and members Luisa Roivas, Kalle Laanet, Karmen Joller and Katrin Kuusemae. More than 30 guests, including government officials and Association of Ukrainian Organisations in Estonia chairperson Volodymyr Palamar, were present.
The program is Estonia’s and Taiwan’s second collaboration to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
The Taiwanese government and people have donated about US$120 million and 800 tonnes of humanitarian and medical aid to Ukraine since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Lee said.
They have also assisted Ukraine in recovering and rebuilding its homeland in collaboration with countries and organizations that share its values, including Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, he said.
The US$1 million donated by the Taipei Mission in the Republic of Latvia on behalf of the Taiwanese government to the Estonia Refugee Council in May 2022 has set a precedent for Taiwan’s and Estonia’s collaboration in aiding Ukraine, he added.
Taiwan’s donation to the program significantly helps to support Ukrainian children and stabilize society in Ukraine, Vaga said, adding that the alliance of values between Taiwan and Ukraine established through the program by Estonia has both diplomatic and humanitarian significance.
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