[elgenie]

Would you be as surprised if given equivalent technological achievements the mayor of, say, Oklahoma City or Richmond VA, did some horn tooting on qz.com to try to drum up outside investment and interest? Estonia’s population is between that of those two modestly sized metros.

[jaclaz]

I don't know, by those metrics, the Mayor of - say - Paris or London has much more relevance than - still say - the King and Prime Minister of Sweden or of Norway.

Or the Mayor of Rome more or less the same relevance as the President of Ireland.

Maybe I am too old fashioned, but I see a president of an independent country, small as it might be, as having a different, higher status than a mayor.

[atlasunshrugged]

I definitely think there is a different level between the president or PM of an independent country to a Mayor of even a much larger city. However, there's also a difference (depending on the country) of the role of President vs. PM vs. Monarch and whether their duties are more promotional/ceremonial versus legislative

[elgenie]

The status you personally ascribe to various positions is obviously up to you.

Estonia is sovereign, but whether it’s “independent” from the Eurozone on which it relies for economic sustenance (they get back 5x what they put into the EU budget) and security guarantees and over whose regulations their influence is commensurate to their population is also in the eye of the beholder.