Estonia prepared for EU presidency only by 2013, foreign minister says

Estonia, one of the European Union's most thinly-populated new members, said on Wednesday it will not be able to assume the rotating presidency of the bloc until 2013, five years later than it had hoped.

"We are not prepared for several reasons before 2013," Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland told the Baltic country's parliament, citing lack of money and financial resources for sitting at the EU's prestigeous helm.

"Assuming the presidency in the EU is a major challenge for any country," she said. "

"The presidency is not cheap".

Estonia, which joined the EU on May 1 with nine other new countries, had been weighing assuming the presidency in 2008, Ojuland said.

She denied it was the poor command of French among Estonian officials that made it impossible for the country to assume the presidency earlier.

"I personally believe our officials are capable of learning (foreign languages)," she said. "It was rather considerations of financial and human resources that shaped the government's decision to stick to the 2013 presidency."