President Lennart Meri and Mrs. Helle Meri last evening participated in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the opening of the memorial to Infantry Regiment 200 at the Taavetti Training Centre at Luumäki.

In his address to the Estonian volunteers who had served in the Finnish Army in the Continuation War, and their guests, President Meri spoke of the will to defend and the capability of making political choices. The President recalled the events ten years ago, when he as the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the opening of the memorial to Infantry Regiment 200. As the President said, the people of Estonia had used those days as a blacksmith uses red-hot iron.

The President also spoke of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Estonia. He spoke of the visit paid to Tallinn by Jon Baldvin Hannibalsson, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iceland, and Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. As the President said, those men helped the world to understand what an opportunity history had given to Estonia.

President Meri also said to the Estonian volunteers who had served in the Finnish Army in the Continuation War that unfortunately, the expression “the second republic” is too widespread. “We still have the one and only Republic of Estonia, and for half a century, democratic countries did not recognise its incorporation,” Meri emphasised. The Republic of Estonia was founded in 1918, and those speaking of “the second republic” betray the principles that have made Estonia into a state and supported her development, the President said.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, August 19, 2001

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