We are sharing the press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia:
Yesterday, 3 February, Estonia’s Ambassador to Slovakia, Arti Hilpus, presented his credentials to the President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini.
In the discussion following the presentation of credentials, President Pellegrini emphasised the need to uphold and strengthen the multilateral system and to ensure the effectiveness and credibility of international organisations. He underlined that this also requires the reform and modernisation of the United Nations. Both sides confirmed that, in order to ensure European security, economic stability and competitiveness, it is important to preserve the strength and unity of NATO and the European Union, based on trust and cooperation between states.
Ambassador Hilpus agreed that, as small states, Estonia and Slovakia share a key interest in maintaining a rules-based world order and respecting international law. “At a time when Europe’s security architecture is being shaped for the coming decades, it is vital to remain committed to the fundamental principles of the OSCE. We must steadfastly continue supporting Ukraine in order to achieve a just and lasting peace, and contribute to Ukraine’s reconstruction,” the Estonian ambassador stressed.
President Pellegrini also recalled with gratitude the meeting of the heads of state of the Arraiolos Group in Tallinn in October 2025, and expressed Slovakia’s interest in hosting a similar meeting in the future.
Arti Hilpus was born in 1972. He graduated with a degree in history from the University of Tartu and completed the international course at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy. In 1996, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director of the Personnel Division, later serving as Director of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy Division (1999–2001 and 2005–2006) and Director of the Security Policy Division (2006–2008). From 2001 to 2004 he worked as a diplomat at the Estonian Embassy in Berlin. Hilpus served as Ambassador to Norway and Iceland (2009–2012), Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia (2012–2015), Ambassador to Russia (2015–2018), and Ambassador to Latvia (2018–2022). Before taking up his current post, Hilpus was Director of the Arms Control Division in the Ministry’s NATO and Transatlantic Relations Department (2022–2025). Since autumn 2025, he has been Estonia’s Ambassador to Austria in addition to Slovakia, Switzerland, and to the international organisations based in Vienna. He resides in Vienna.
