Estonia: HennPõlluaas: We owe our sovereignty to those who fought and fell in the War of Independence

NordenBladet — Speaking today in Nõmme Rahu (Peace) Church to commemorate the War of Independence Armistice Day and the War of Independence Veterans Day, the President of the Riigikogu Henn Põlluaas said that we still needed the courage, bravery and inextinguishable striving for freedom now, when one hundred years have passed since the weapons fell silent on our battlefronts.

“Exactly one hundred years ago today, the weapons fell silent and the armistice between the Republic of Estonia and the Bolshevist Russia entered into force,” Põlluaas said. One month later, the armistice extended into the Tartu Peace Treaty that ended all military activities.

“The endless noise of the battlefields ceased and suddenly everything became so silent. But there was a great power in that silence… The power that took us to the stabilisation of our independence,” noted the President of the Riigikogu.

Põlluaas said that today we bow our heads in memory of the fallen, and thank the fighters and victims of the War of Independence for our sovereignty. “We promise to be worthy of these men and women, and to defend our country and our people. If necessary, with a weapon in hand, as did our freedom fighters in World War II, and our Forest Brothers for long years after that,” Põlluaas said.

“In the battles of the War of Independence, we saw courage, bravery and inextinguishable striving for freedom. We still need all that now, when one hundred years have passed since the weapons fell silent on our battlefronts,” Põlluaas added.

The President of the Riigikogu also said that we must be strong and stand united. “Unanimously, and together with our friends and allies, we can ensure stability and lasting peace for our country and our nation.”

Riigikogu Press Service
Veiko Pesur
Phone 631 6353, 55 590 595
e-mail veiko.pesur@riigikogu.ee
Questions press@riigikogu.ee

Source: Parliament of Estonia