President Lennart Meri sent a letter of condolences to Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, the President of the Republic of Iceland, on the occasion of the death of his spouse Gudrun Katrin Porbergsdottir.

The President of Iceland and his spouse paid a state visit to Estronia in June this year. ''Your loss has caused me great sorrow,'' President Meri wrote. ''The closeness our families shared was deeper than the usual communication between heads of state, it was something that can only be compared to family relations. The memories remain, becoming brighter on the other side of the line separating the living from the departed,'' the President wrote.

As President Meri said in his letter, the memories of their conversations and the walks in the Old Town of Tallinn, of shared joys and sorrows will endure. Just as his condolences to Olafur Ragnar Grimsson in his grief.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, October 14, 1998

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