A CORNWALL councillor was thrilled to be invited to visit the Estonian Parliament on a recent trip to the Baltic state of Estonia.

Mebyon Kernow's Andrew Long, who represents Callington on Cornwall Council, was invited to visit the parliament, called the Riigikogu, as part of his holiday visiting friends and relatives in the Republic, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

Cllr Long said: 'It was a great opportunity to see how a small nation can indeed run its own affairs while being an equal and active part of a wider Europe. Estonia has over 11,000 years of history and a rich and varied culture which has many similarities to the Celtic culture of Cornwall and the Celtic Arc of nations.

'The effects, however, of over 45 years of Soviet occupation will take decades to recover from, and the stark history is in plain view across the country with the abandoned State Farms particularly prominent.

'I was particularly impressed with the embracing of new technology, not only for voting in the Parliament itself, but more importantly for the electors of Estonia who can now vote in a number of ways, including online in local, regional, national and European elections.'

Cllr Long was given the tour of the parliament by Aare Heinvee, the Reformierakond (Reform Party) MP from Harjumaa district to the south of the capital of Tallinn, that includes the town of Keila, which has a friendship link with Callington.

Mr Heinvee was part of the new intake of members after the elections in March 2011 and his party are now part of the coalition government for the small northern European Republic.