By Andrew Whyte, ERR News
Canada has always been a nation with a deep resonance in the hearts of many Estonians. The country opened its doors to many people who were displaced by the Soviet occupation at the end of World War Two, but, perhaps now more than ever, the relationship is significant in working both ways with the establishment of a Canadian-led NATO battlegroup in neighboring Latvia, and all the boosts that gives in links in the spheres of business, culture and more. We caught up with Kevin Rex, Canada's ambassador to all three Baltic States, to find out more about this very special relationship.
A native of Montreal, Kevin Rex is coming up to his first anniversary on the job, which he officially started in October last year. He is based in Riga most of the time, visiting Tallinn two or three times a month. So how has work gone so far, and what was Kevin's background up to now?
"I was an adviser at the Privy Council – equivalent to the cabinet office in the U.K., say, which is an apolitical role where you serve whoever is the incumbent. In my case I served under Paul Martin and then Stephen Harper," says Kevin, referring to Canada's 21st and 22nd prime ministers.
"Next I went on to the Canadian International Development Agency, which was a body involved in humanitarian aid which has since been absorbed into the foreign ministry. I was involved with the disaster assistance response team (DART) which is a military component of civilian-led responses to international disasters, traveling to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, which was horrendous, and also to Nepal."
Despite being from the suited, civilian side of the street, Kevin does have military experience under his belt too.
"I was in the army reserves as an officer in a Highland regiment," he says, noting Canada's strong Scottish connections and heritage.
"This is more usual for my U.S. colleagues than in Canada, but was valuable experience. That said I joined quite late, though my subsequent career path owes a lot to those times."
One ambassador, three embassies
Moving forward to today, Canada's foreign mission in the Baltics covers all three nations. As noted, Kevin is mostly based in Riga, but also visits Vilnius regularly. This is more the norm than having individual missions in each country, he tells me.
https://news.err.ee/974221/int...
Interview: Canadian Ambassador on his country's strong ties to the Baltics - ERR
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