President Lennart Meri visited the Polish submarine Orzel at the Tallinn City Port at noon today. President Meri had invited Orzel to visit Tallinn in 1993, when he visited the submarine during his visit to the Polish Gdynia.

In the port, the Estonian Head of State gave a welcoming speech to the submarine’s crew. As he said, the message of this friendship visit is clear to every Estonian and every Pole. The events connected to the first submarine Orzel, the one that fought against two totalitarian states and sought refuge in Tallinn in September 1939, once elicited from Stalin a confession that the Soviet Union was waging an undeclared war against Poland and not liberating the ethnic minorities.

The President said that now that the democratic and united Europe is negotiating the accession of Estonia and Poland to the EU and the NATO Summit decided to extend membership to Poland and to assist Estonia to follow in Poland’s footsteps, the Orzel is the symbol of the common future of Estonia and Poland.

As the President said, both Estonia and Poland are following the efforts of the Russian Federation, their common neighbour, towards the modernisation of her society and economy.

The President boarded the submarine, and the ship's Captain, Lieutenant Commander Gerard Marek, offered the President dinner and showed him round on board the ship.

Jakub Wolasiewicz, the Polish Ambassador in Estonia, conferred in the President's presence a distinguished decoration of the Republic of Poland to Mrs. Hilda Sabbo, who has devoted herself to the task of documenting the terror and violations of human rights in Estonia and Poland during the totalitarian period.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, September 4, 1998

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