For the first time in its history, Estonia received the status of a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, BTA quoted DPA as saying.

The small Baltic country will maintain this position until the end of 2021.

To mark the occasion, President Kersti Kaljulaid hoisted the UN flag in front of her official residence in Tallinn. "In the next two years, Estonia will be at the table for the toughest diplomatic talks in the world," she said, adding that this would give the country of 1.3 million people more influence on the international scene.

"We are an equal country in a complex and fragile international family. But it comes with an obligation and responsibility to understand and to speak up on difficult issues that at first sight do not seem to concern us directly. We will help stand for a value-based and international law-based world order, without which we and many other countries and nations would have no place in the world.”, Kaljulaid emphasized.