President Lennart Meri received Dr Edzard Schmidt-Jortzig, Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Germany, at Kadriorg today.

President Meri pointed out the vital importance of the Federal Republic of Germany to Estonia, especially as far as the building of an Estonian system of justice based on the rule of law was concerned.

The President stressed the need for at all the levels of society, beginning with the school, to study the legal order of Europe, and Germany could serve as a model and a support for Estonia in this area as well. ''You can't study Europe, though, you must ''live'' Europe,'' said President Meri.

The central notion of the conversation was the ethos of a state, which demands great pains. A state expecting the rule of law to function well must build its bedrock in the ethos of the whole country. Even developed democracies have to take pains with preserving the ethics of the country, the participants in the meeting were unanimous.

Minister Schmidt-Jortzig said he sincerely wanted to compliment Estonia for her great achievements over the last seven or eight years – a relatively short period of time in the course of history – and for her support of a strongly organized Europe. According to the German Minister of Justice, Estonia's transition from a planned economy to a market economy and to the rule of law has been rapid indeed.


Press Service of the President's Office
Kadriorg, 13 March 1998

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