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Estonian President receives the City's Key of Honor

The Estonian Head of State received the Key of Honor of the City of Lisbon today. On his first official visit to our country, Alar Karis was welcomed by the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, who highlighted the centuries-old relationship between the two nations and the significance of this visit in the current European context.

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A member of NATO for 22 years, Estonia was "at the center of the tragedies of the 20th century", suffering the "devastation of the Second World War" and "Soviet occupation for decades", Carlos Moedas began. Today, he said, Estonia has "rebuilt its institutions, restructured its economy and restored its civil society".

The small Baltic country, with 1.3 million inhabitants, "ranks 2nd in the world for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders, 2nd for internet freedom and 8th for economic freedom, according to Freedom House," said Carlos Moedas.

Lisbon "looks at Estonia with deep admiration". For everything it has achieved in less than forty years, "Estonia is now an example of global success, a model for many of us".

With the "highest number of startups per capita in the European Union" - more than 800 per million inhabitants, and five times the EU average - the country also has the second highest ratio of unicorn companies per million inhabitants worldwide, said Carlos Moedas. Bolt, one of the 17 unicorns present in Lisbon, is an example of this success, he said, "with whom we have been working closely" to regulate shared mobility.

"Your story points to the future", which "we want to build together", concluded the Mayor of Lisbon.