ESTONIA

Estonia: Chairmen of Foreign Affairs Committees call for stronger sanctions against Russia

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — Today, Chairmen of Foreign Affairs Committees of seven countries made a joint statement calling for stronger sanctions against Russia and increasing support for Ukraine, as well as for suspending tourism and restricting the issue of entry visas to Russian citizens.

“As Chairs of Foreign Affairs Committees of our respective Parliaments, in response to the continued — unprovoked and unjust — war of aggression waged against Ukraine by the Russian Federation, we:

note the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, a sovereign country, is a gross violation of international law, including the UN Charter;

emphasise that since Russia’s unprovoked military attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, twelve million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes and over five million have been forced to flee their country;

refer to several reports by human rights groups and international monitoring missions about atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces against Ukrainian civilians, including torture, rape, murder and mass detention of civilians in so-called filtration centres, as well as mass deportations;

underline the immoral and illegal nature of the tactics chosen by Russia, the widespread use of especially cruel, imprecise weapons that maim and cause special suffering – Russia, by using this type of ammunition, violates international norms.  Russian forces in Ukraine are using internationally banned cluster munitions to sow fear and indiscriminately kill civilians;

stress that the deployment of Russian military personnel and weaponry at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant — is unacceptable and disregards the safety, security, and safeguards principles outlined in the Seven Pillars of Nuclear Safety and Security;

note that the presence of Russian military forces at the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant prevents the operator and the Ukrainian authorities from fulfilling their nuclear and radiation safety obligations per international conventions;

urge the Russian Federation to immediately withdraw its military forces and all other unauthorised personnel from the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, its immediate surroundings, and all of Ukraine;

reiterate our strongest condemnation of the ongoing unprovoked and unjustifiable war of aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The Russian Federation must immediately withdraw its troops from within Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders and respect Ukraine’s territory and sovereignty;

call on the Euro-Atlantic community and its partners to urgently strengthen and implement comprehensive sanctions against the Russian Federation to stop the ability of the Russian army to continue its military aggression in Ukraine, to increase military, financial, humanitarian and diplomatic support to Ukraine, to unanimously support initiatives that condemn Russia’s military actions in Ukraine and calls bring the perpetrators to justice, isolate Russia from international and regional organisations, as well as adopt equivalent decisions and establish equivalent sanctions against Belarus as a supporter of Russian military aggression;

call on Member States of the European Union and other western allies to immediately suspend tourism and limit the issuance of entry visas for tourism of citizens of the Russian Federation;

commemorate all the victims of Russian aggression in Ukraine – thousands of civilians and defenders of Ukraine;

express solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.”

The statement has been signed by the Chairmen of Foreign Affairs Committees of Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. On behalf of Estonia, it was signed by the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu Marko Mihkelson.

Full text of the statement in Estonian, English, and Ukrainian.

 

 

The Foreign Affairs Committees of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland are in Ukraine

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet —

Delegations from the foreign affairs committees of the parliaments of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland are currently in Ukraine to jointly show their support for Ukraine and to gain a deeper understanding of the current situation of the war there.

“This visit is a demonstration of support for the Ukrainian people who have made enormous sacrifices and continue to do so to preserve their independence, territorial integrity, and democracy. Our goal is to help Ukraine in any way we can to win the war and in dealing with its consequences,” declared the Chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the four countries.

The Chairs condemn the Russian Armed Forces’ serial violation of international law and the perpetration of war crimes in Ukraine. Since February, Russia’s unprovoked military attack has forced twelve million Ukrainians to flee their homes and over five million have had to flee the country. “Human rights groups and international monitoring missions have reported on atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces against Ukrainian civilians, who have been tortured, raped, murdered and held in mass in so-called filtration centres, or have been deported. This is unforgivable,” state the heads of the delegations.

The four Chairs emphasise that the price of the aggression must be raised as high as possible for Russia. “The European Union has adopted seven sanctions packages to put pressure on Russia. The last sanctions package, which entered into force on July 21, banned the import of Russia’s other major export article – Russian gold – and forbade one of Russia’s largest banks – Sberbank – from conducting transactions outside Russia. But this is not enough. We will continue making proposals for strict and efficient sanctions in the next sanctions packages,” the Chairs promised.

Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and Finnish delegations will meet their Ukrainian colleagues and inspect the damage caused by Russian armed forces in Irpin, Borodyanka, and Chernihiv, and visit the common grave for war victims in Bucha.

The four delegations are headed by the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu of Estonia Marko Mihkelson, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Seimas of Lithuania Laima Andrikienė, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima of Latvia Rihards Kols, and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Eduskunta of Finland Jussi Halla-aho.

Source: Parliament of Estonia

Estonia: Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee visited Ukraine

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee Raivo Tamm and Member of the Riigikogu Mihhail Lotman visited Kyiv and liberated areas on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of the United for Ukraine global network of parliament members.

Chairman Raivo Tamm saw the visit as a way to assure the leaders of Ukraine that they are supported and that there is readiness to contribute towards the reconstruction of Ukraine after the war. “The focal topic of the visit was Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and the necessary steps to continue with this process. For me, this offered the opportunity to share with my Ukrainian colleagues Estonia’s experiences of the EU accession process,” Tamm said.

The delegation met with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, as well as with Chairmen and members of committees of the Ukrainian parliament. Other meetings were held with the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine Olga Stefanishyna, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, and the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva.

The visit also took the MPs to liberated areas such as Bucha, Irpin, and Borodyanka.

The delegation included almost 30 members of national parliaments and the European Parliament from Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Spain, and United Kingdom.

 

Estonia: 9% more children in Estonia than during the previous census

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – There are 259,341 children aged 0–17 living in Estonia. This is 9.1% more than ten years ago. Children constitute 19.5% of the total population of Estonia. The share of children is the lowest in Hiiu and Ida-Viru counties and the highest in Harju and Tartu counties, as revealed by the census results published today.

There are 26,656 children aged under two, 71,779 children aged 2–6, 57,200 children aged 7–10 and 62,157 children aged 11–14 living in Estonia. Terje Trasberg, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia, said that 11-year-old boys are the biggest group among children – there are 8,905 of them. “These boys were one year old during the previous census 10 years ago, when they were also the biggest group. The overall number of children is bigger than 10 years ago, but there are now fewer children aged under 4 in Estonia than in 2011. This reflects the low birth rates of recent years,” said Trasberg.

62% of children live in Tartu and Harju counties, with the remaining share living in other counties. Regionally, the share of children is the biggest in Tartu county where children account for over a fifth of the population (21.5%). The share of children is above the Estonian average (19.5%) also in Harju and Rapla counties. Their share is the lowest in Hiiu (15.5%) and Ida-Viru (16%) counties.

Among local governments, the share of children was noticeably higher in Rae (31.5%), Kiili (28.5%) and Kambja (27.5%) rural municipalities. “I should also mention Luunja rural municipality where the share of children aged under two was 3.2% of the population – this is the second-highest share in Estonia after Rae rural municipality (3.6%). The share of children was especially low on the small islands of Ruhnu and Vormsi, and also in Loksa city – under 13% of the population,” explained Trasberg.

The census results show a decrease in the share of women with one or two children, while there has been a rise in the number of women with three or four children. 12.5% of women have given birth to three children, and 3% of women have given birth to four children. The average number of children born to a woman has not changed significantly. According to the 2021 census, women in Estonia (aged 15 and over) have 1.55 children on average. The number of children per woman is the highest in Jõgeva county (1.88) and the lowest in Harju county (1.38).

“At the same time, the average number of children did fall among younger women, with the biggest decrease recorded among women aged 27–30, which reflects the fact that the current average age at the birth of the first child is considerably higher,” added Trasberg. The average age at the birth of the first child is the lowest among women in Valga county and the highest in Harju county. There has also been a rise in the number of women of reproductive age (15–49) who have not given birth at all – they currently represent 39.59% of women.

This overview is based on the data of the 2021 Population and Housing Census. Statistics Estonia will publish the census results gradually by topic, starting from today until the end of the year. More information and the release dates are available on the census website at census.ee.

Featured image: NordenBladet
Source: Rahvaloendus.ee

 

Estonia: THE NUMBER of dwellings is growing, and more and more people are living in private houses

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – A total of 737,873 dwellings were counted in the 2021 Population and Housing Census, based on registers. Compared to the 2011 census, 47,793 new dwellings have been built, which is 1000 fewer than in the previous ten years (2001–2011). According to census data, there are now 14% more private houses than 10 years ago and 24% of all dwellings are vacant.

At the census moment, i.e. 31 December 2021, there were 737,873 dwellings enumerated in Estonia, including private houses and blocks of flats, collective living quarters and other housing units. 557,146 (76%) of all the enumerated dwellings were occupied, i.e. had at least one permanent resident, and 175,690 (24%) were without permanent residents. The share of dwellings without permanent residents has increased between the two censuses. In 2011, 84% of dwellings were occupied, compared to 87% in 2000.

“These numbers suggest that people have been acquiring, for instance, summer-houses and other properties they do not constantly inhabit. Dwellings that have already been completed according to the building register but that have not yet been inhabited are also included here,” explained Terje Trasberg, leading analyst at Statistics Estonia.

Liina Osila, Population and Housing Census project manager at Statistics Estonia, noted that compared to the previous census, the number of dwellings with permanent residents in Estonia has increased by 2.2%. “In general, the quality of people’s living spaces in Estonia has certainly improved. The number of dwellings with a water supply system, bathing facilities, toilet facilities, as well as with central heating has increased. Living in a private house has become increasingly popular,” stated Osila.

Narva has the largest apartment buildings

The number of residential buildings in Estonia is 266,475 based on the 2021 census. Of these, 77.5% (206,529) are one-family dwellings, 18% (47, 847) are blocks of flats, 3.2% (8,572) are semi-detached houses and 1.3% (3527) non-residential buildings, with at least one living space.

Narva has the biggest blocks of flats, with an average of 64 flats per building. Estonia’s largest block of flats, with a total of 360 flats, is also located in Narva. The smallest apartment buildings are in Hiiumaa, where the average number of flats per building is 9.05. There is only one municipality in Estonia – Ruhnu – where there are no blocks of flats.
The largest number of people lives in buildings completed in 1961

69.8% (389,101) of the dwellings with permanent residents are located in blocks of flats (buildings with three or more flats), 27.7% (154,426) are in private houses, 1.6% (8736) in semi-detached houses and 0.9% (4883) are in non-residential buildings.

17,167 new buildings with conventional dwellings have been added to the dwelling stock since the previous census (i.e. their year of construction is 2012 or later). 82.1% of these are private houses, 11.2% are blocks of flats, 6% semi-detached houses and 0.7% are non-residential buildings. “Since blocks of flats contain more dwellings, there has been a bigger increase in dwellings located in apartment buildings: of the dwellings added in the last ten years, 29.8% are in private houses and 64.4% in blocks of flats,” Trasberg explained. By year of construction, however, the largest number of occupied dwellings is found in buildings completed in 1961.

On average, the largest dwellings are in Kiili, the smallest in Sillamäe

The total area of occupied dwellings is 38,970,750 m2 – a rise by 1.38% (530,488 m2) compared to 2011. The total area of vacant (unoccupied) dwellings is 10,689, 971 m2.

Across all types of dwellings (private houses, blocks of flats), the area per inhabitant has, on average, decreased slightly compared to 2011: from 30.5 m2 in 2011 to 30.1 m2 in 2021. A decrease has also occurred in the average number of rooms per inhabitant, from 1.24 in the 2011 census to 1.21 in 2021.

Rae municipality has the highest number of inhabitants per occupied dwelling (3.1), while the number is lowest in Sillamäe city (1.95). The largest dwellings are in Kiili municipality and the smallest in Sillamäe city.

Estonians and Finns are the only people in the world who bathe in saunas

The availability of comfort characteristics has improved in all dwellings (both in occupied and vacant ones): the number of dwellings with a water supply system, with bathing facilities, with indoor flush toilet facilities, and with central heating has increased. 93.3% of occupied dwellings have a water supply system, 93.1% of dwellings have bathing facilities, 91.1% have toilet facilities (flush toilet) and 68.5% have central heating. Sillamäe has the highest coverage of flush toilets (99% of dwellings).

Compared to the previous census, the number of dwellings that have toilet facilities has risen by 5.2% (25,295) and a big increase has also occured in the number of dwellings with bathing facilities – up by 11,335. There has been a similar rise in the number of dwellings with central heating (up by 11,597). “Estonia and Finland are the only countries where saunas are considered as bathing facilities in a population and housing census,” Trasberg added.

Featured image: NordenBladet
Source: Rahvaloendus.ee

Estonia: Ratas chaired a discussion of speakers of NB8 parliaments on security and defence cooperation

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — The speakers of NB8 parliaments met in Kaunas, Lithuania, with the President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas chairing a discussion under the title “Security and Defence: NB8-NATO Club: New Opportunities for Enhanced Nordic-Baltic Cooperation on Security and Defence”.

Ratas described the current year as extraordinary in our recent history. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is posing the gravest threat to Euro-Atlantic security.

He emphasised that the response by the democratic world to Russia’s aggression had been quick and decisive. In the field of security and defence this has meant giving military aid to Ukraine, raising the defence expenditures in our countries, and very importantly, in the case of Finland and Sweden, has led to the decision to apply for the NATO membership.

“Finland’s and Sweden’s accession is a game changer for our region and an important contribution to the security of the whole Euro-Atlantic area. This creates new possibilities for regional security and defence cooperation – NB8 co-operation will gain a new strategic dimension,” Ratas declared. “The Riigikogu was among the first to ratify both accession protocols on July 5.”

He added that there were many areas where we could and should intensify our cooperation even further – for example, the integration of our defence plans, participation at each others’ military exercises, joint procurements of defence capabilities, and cooperation in the defence industry.

Ratas warned that Russia would remain the most significant and direct threat to NATO for years to come. This has been clearly stated in NATO’s new strategic concept adopted at the Madrid Summit. The decision that was made there to significantly strengthen the defence and deterrence posture of the Alliance in our region was crucial.

Now we need to focus on its speedy implementation. This would mean increasing Allied presence in our region, prepositioning stocks and equipment, and strengthening military capabilities in land, sea, and air. Also essential was the decision to transform NATO’s Baltic air policing mission to air defence. “Our posture must prevent any possible attempts of aggression,” Ratas stressed.

Speaking of Ukraine, Ratas stated that “We need to further raise the cost of aggression for Russia and avoid its expansion. For this we need to further strengthen sanctions against Russia and increase our military support to Ukraine.”

Ratas expressed his hope that when our countries gather for the next NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, next year, Finland and Sweden would have been full-fledged members of NATO already for a while.

Other key topics at the meeting of the Speakers of the Nordic and Baltic Parliaments (NB8) in Kaunas were the 31 years long cooperation of the NB8 countries and its perspectives in the new economic, cultural and security situation, as well as economic cooperation in the region.

The Nordic-Baltic cooperation, or NB8, has been bringing together Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania since 1992. The first meeting of the NB8 Speakers took place in 1997 in Karlskrona, Sweden.

 

Estonia is an attractive destination for highly educated immigrants

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet – During the population and housing census, information on the highest level of education attained by inhabitants of Estonia was also gathered. Collected data revealed that the educational attainment of the population continues to rise. The level of education of foreigners living in here has also increased significantly. Below we will take a closer look at the educational attainment of the native Estonian- and Russian-speaking population as well as that of other mother tongue speakers and see how it has changed since the previous censuses.

As at the end of 2021, 18% of the native Estonian-speaking population aged 25 and over have basic education (or less), 43% have secondary education (or vocational education after secondary education), and 39% have higher education (or secondary specialised education after secondary education). The proportion of people with basic education is lower among native Russian speakers (11%), which means that the share of persons with secondary or higher education is a few percent higher than among the native Estonian-speaking population. Among native speakers of other languages, as many as 64% have higher education, and only 8% have basic education.

There are 13.5% fewer people with basic education or less among native Estonian speakers than at the time of the 2000 census. The drop is slightly smaller among the Russian-speaking population (-11.2%), while for people with other mother tongues, the decrease is almost twice as large (-25.6%). The share of people with secondary education has not changed significantly in the native Estonian- and Russian-speaking populations. However, among native speakers of other languages, there are now nearly 10% fewer people with secondary education than 20 years ago.

While the shares of people with basic and secondary education in the population have tended to decrease, the proportion of those with higher education has increased – by 13.2% for native Estonian speakers, by 9.5% for native speakers of Russian, and by 35.2% for the population speaking some other mother tongue. It is worth noting that while the percentage of people with higher education is rising in all three aforementioned groups, the proportion of the highly educated has increased much faster among other mother tongue speakers. This suggests that it is the highly educated foreigners that tend to migrate to Estonia nowadays.

The biggest changes in educational attainment among the Estonian- and Russian-speaking population occurred between the censuses of 2000 and 2011, but the most significant change among the population with some other mother tongue was seen after the census of 2011.

The gender gap in higher education is widest among native Estonian speakers

In most age groups, the share of people with tertiary education is highest among native speakers of languages other than Estonian or Russian. In the Estonian- and Russian-speaking population, less than 1.5% of people in each age group have a doctorate. Among native speakers of other languages, the share of doctoral degree holders is higher in all age groups under the age of 75. It is particularly high in the 35–49 age group – over 4%. The highest percentages of young people with a master’s and a bachelor’s degree are also found among those whose mother tongue is not Estonian or Russian: the proportion of master’s degree holders is highest in the 30–34 age group (36.1%) and the highest share of bachelor’s degree holders was recorded among those aged 25 to 29 (40.7%). For comparison: 15.3% of the 30–34-year-old native Estonian speakers and 11.9% of native Russian speakers have a master’s degree. People with a bachelor’s degree make up less than 25% of both Estonian and Russian native speakers aged 25–29. Therefore, the young and working-age foreigners staying here permanently are quite highly educated. They are likely to have come here to work in a professional capacity or to further their education.

The proportion of tertiary-educated people is higher among women than men, and the gender gap is particularly wide in the native Estonian-speaking population. Especially among the native Estonian but also Russian speakers, the share of young and working-age women with higher education is much higher than that of men. In older age groups, it is the other way round: the percentage of men with higher education is higher. Among the population with some other mother tongue, the differences are not as pronounced. In the native Estonian-speaking female population, the share of those with tertiary education is highest in the 40–44 age group, reaching 57.8%. In this age group, 34.4% of Estonian-speaking men, 49.1% of Russian-speaking women and 33.1% of Russian-speaking men, and 73.8% of women and 67.4% of men with some other mother tongue have higher education.

In older age groups, the proportions of the highly educated are roughly the same across different mother tongues: less than 10% of people aged 55 and over have a bachelor’s degree and 19–25% of 55–74-year-olds have a master’s degree. The share of people with secondary specialised education (after secondary education) is higher among other mother tongue speakers and native Russian speakers over the age of 40. This makes sense since in Estonia, students were last admitted to schools offering such an education in 1999. Such educational institutions are more common in Russia, for instance.

Basic and secondary education are the highest completed educational levels in younger age groups of various mother tongues. Among older age groups, the proportions of people with basic and secondary education tend to be similar across different mother tongue groups. However, among 25–55-year-old native speakers of languages other than Estonian or Russian, the share of people with basic or secondary education is significantly lower than among the Estonian- and Russian-speaking population.

More highly educated people of other mother tongues live in Estonia than ever before

The educational attainment of the population with some other mother tongue has risen in all age groups since 2000, most notably among 25–34-year-olds. In 2000, higher education was recorded for 38% and in 2021 for 78.8% of them. These are young people who have either obtained a higher education in Estonia and then stayed here, or who have come to work and live in this country after completing their tertiary studies elsewhere. When it comes to older people, a major change occurred, for instance, in the 65–74 age group: the share of the highly educated among them is now 33.9% higher than 20 years ago. Overall, educational attainment of men and women rose equally.

Source: Rahvaloendus.ee
Featured image: Pexels

Estonia: Day of Living in the Countryside (24 September 2022)

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet – The aim of celebrating the Day of Living in the Countryside is to open doors to active and brilliant people, to help them find a suitable living place in the countryside. This year the municipalities are welcoming you and will be introducing to the guests the kindergartens, schools, society houses, health centers, sports centers, and businesses. Besides they are offering information about free places of residence and will talk about possibilities of creating a job for oneself.

The program of the Day of Living in the Countryside is compiled by municipalities together with communities all over Estonia. The program schedule will help find information about what and where is going to happen. Take your family along and become assured that people actually live in the countryside! In the process of choosing you can get to know stories from the people that recently moved from town to the countryside. News about the Day of Living in the Countryside will be published here. With questions, please turn to the organisers of the Day of Living in the Countryside (Maal elmaise päev).

The programs of the Day of Living in the Countryside are held all over Estonia for the fourth time already. Mostly, events will accumulate in the society houses and village centers, those are welcoming guests and are offering common activities, taste experiences and bits of inspiration regarding life and entrepreneurship in the countryside.

Introducing your home side success stories to the guests, every member of the community feels that it is good to live in the countryside and it will be the home side celebration day!

Source: NordenBladet.ee

Estonia: President of the Riigikogu meets with the Speakers of the Nordic and Baltic Parliaments in Kaunas  

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
-

NordenBladet — On Monday and Tuesday, President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas will participate in the meeting of the Speakers of the Nordic and Baltic Parliaments (NB8), where the discussions will focus on the 31 years-long cooperation of the NB8 countries and its proepects in the new economic, cultural and security situation, economic cooperation in the region and the security situation in Europe.

All these issues will be spoken about at different panel discussions. Ratas will lead the discussion of security issues on Tuesday.

The Nordic-Baltic cooperation, or NB8, has been bringing Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania around the same table since 1992. The first meeting of the NB8 Speakers took place in 1997 in Karlskrona, Sweden.

 

 

Estonia: The August 20 Club held a festive meeting in the White Hall of Toompea Castle

By
Helena-Reet Ennet
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NordenBladet — At the traditional festive meeting of the August 20th Club, held in the White Hall of Toompea Castle today, the participants recalled the events of 31 years ago, thanked their supporters and commemorated the members of the Club who had passed away.

President of the Riigikogu Jüri Ratas and Prime Minister Kaja Kallas delivered the welcoming addresses. Member of the August 20 Club Johannes Kass gave the keynote speech.

Ratas said that in politics, history was made every day, but there were moments in history when everything really depended on one bold decision. “As long as we hold Estonia’s freedom dear, and as long as we are caring and strive for cooperation in our decisions, we will serve the most important task of all, which is to ensure the survival of the Estonian nation and an independent and protected Estonia,” Ratas emphasised.

“We hear and see the tragic stories about the gravity of war and suffering of innocent people from the war front in Ukraine, who is fighting for its independence for itself and for all of us. Russia’s large-scale war against the state and the people of Ukraine, and the brave resistance of Ukrainians show how important it is to stand together as a nation and value your friends and allies. It is our role and our moral obligation to support Ukraine in every way we can,” Ratas said.

Ratas pointed out that celebrating common anniversaries and keeping Estonia as our common home for generations helped us build a future in which the events that threaten our sovereignty could never happen again. “Safeguarding the Republic of Estonia is in our own hands. We must act all together, and each of us individually. Just as previous generations did their best, it is now our turn to carry forward an Estonia that will last for countless years and countless generations also in the future,” Ratas underlined.

Kallas recalled the time 31 years ago, when she as a teenager eagerly followed the decisive events at Toompea with her grandparents.

“You will understand the price of freedom only when it has been taken away from you. I have lived in a society where there was no freedom, and therefore I can appreciate freedom,” Kallas said. “Our young people take freedom for granted.”

President of the August 20th Club Ants Veetõusme chaired the meeting.

The August 20 Club unites the people who were elected to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia in 1990, and voted for the resolution of the restoration of the independence of Estonia 31 years ago.

 

 

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