This morning, President Lennart Meri together with the President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen, and the President of the Republic of Hungary Ferenc Mádl, opened the third World Congress of the Finno-Ugric Peoples; in his speech held at the opening, President Meri emphasised that more attention ought to be paid to small nations. The Estonian President also invited everyone interested to attend the fourth World Congress of Finno-Ugric Peoples in Tallinn in 2004.

President Meri also had a bilateral meeting with President Tarja Halonen, who spoke of the European Union Summit that had ended early this morning in Nice, and the decisions taken there. The main subject of the working meeting was the impact of the European Union enlargement on world politics.

President Tarja Halonen also hosted a lunch in honour of her Estonian and Hungarian colleagues at the presidential palace of Helsinki.

In the afternoon, President Meri was at the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia, where he as the Patron of the Year of Estonian Book handed over a gift from the Central Committee of the Year of Estonian Book – a selection of Estonian books – to the chairs of the Estonian language studies of Finnish universities. Gifts of books were given to the universities of Jyväskylä, Joensuu, Oulu, Tampere, and Turku.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, December 11, 2000

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