European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker admitted Friday that he had not yet joined the smartphone revolution, as he helped launch the EU presidency of digital-savvy Estonia. "I shouldn't say but I have to say it, I still don't have a smartphone," the 62-year-old head of the EU's executive arm said at a news conference in the Baltic state's capital, Tallinn.
"So I couldn't become prime minister of Estonia, this would be totally impossible," Juncker said alongside a smiling Estonian premier Juri Ratas. He added that Ratas was aware of his lack of a smartphone, "which is why he sent me, like in the 19th century, a postcard inviting me to Tallinn."
Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, uses an old Nokia mobile phone, EU sources told AFP. His admission comes 10 years after Apple introduced the iPhone and launched a global smartphone boom. It puts him in good technophobic company among world leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who still does not have a Twitter account.
But it stands in contrast with US President Donald Trump, a prolific Twitter user whose most recent outburst about a TV host's facelift sparked a backlash on Thursday. Estonia, one of the world's most digitally connected countries, said it would push digital issues as part of its six-month stint as president of the EU, which begins Saturday.
Ratas said he wanted the free flow of information to become the EU's "fifth fundamental freedom" - after the freedom of movement for people, goods, capital and services, the pillars of the 28-nation bloc's single market. Juncker said he counted on Estonia's "leadership" in the months ahead. "Even without being a techie I know that our future is digital. Digital is the DNA of your country and it needs to become part of the European DNA," Juncker said.
But in the wake of a huge global cyberattack which spread from Ukraine to hit several countries this week, security was also a priority, he said. "Success of the digital single market will also depend on the confidence of Europeans. That is why I hope we can learn from your experience on cybersecurity - the scale of the risks is significant," Juncker said. Estonia was the first state to be hit by a massive cyberattack, in 2007, which paralysed key corporate and government web services for days. Estonia blamed Moscow, which denied the charge.