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The President of the Republic on December 31, 2000 and on January 1, 2001
31.12.2000

Dear fellow countrymen,
dear people of Estonia!


For the first time in their truly long history, the Estonians step into a new century and a new millennium as a nation making its own choices. I wish all of us to have a beautiful and happy New Year on the new century!

What are our feelings when crossing the threshold of time?

On the day before New Year's Eve, shops were full of customers. Christmas and New Year have melted together. In this sense, Estonia has become a Nordic country, where Christmas and the threshold of New Year are the most celebrated feast of the year. At Christmastime and on New Year's Eve we can feel it more deeply than in everyday life that people belong together: in families, among friends, among colleagues, in congregations, societies and organisations.

On such days, I hope, people have deeper regard for peace and happiness in the world and in Estonia, and think with greater grief and sympathy of those who are ill, lonely, or bitter; of those who have lost their loved ones or live in poverty.

My New Year's message grows out of these thoughts. Its words are simple, but hard to put to deeds, and it sounds as follows:

We belong together. We belong together and depend on each other in our small and big enterprises.

This year and today we can look back at ten years of work for the good of the Republic of Estonia and at eight years when our country has functioned on the basis of the Constitution, hand in hand with neighbouring countries, with Europe and the world. It has functioned as a free, equal and independent country. This period of time, and especially last year, has given us reason for happiness, if we speak of Estonia's international reputation.

But what if we speak of the citizen of Estonia? If we speak of you, of your family, of your children or your parents? Especially of your parents? We still have prejudices and misapprehensions about each other. We know too little, speak too little of our different experiences and different views.

Yet differences can bear good fruit and giving due consideration to differences may improve the quality of life. Provided that we mind how we speak to each other, how we behave towards each other, and what our political atmosphere will look like. We belong together like basses and sopranos in a Song Festival choir, whose voices do not drown each other, but sound in unison as the voice of the entire country.

Every one of you understands the reasons why I am speaking about this on the threshold of the new century. The public opinion observers have established that the reputation of the Estonian constitutional institutions and media has declined. In consequence, allegedly, there is a longing for a strong leader. Dear fellow countrymen, this is a threat to Estonian democracy, but luckily, we have a warning experience from the time before World War II. Allow me to quote my father's article from the year 1933: ''That democratic parliamentarism has debased the art of governing, has often abandoned the aspiration for higher goals, has stooped lower and lower to demagogy and even corruption - all this is an almost universal international phenomenon. The way uphill is passable only if the tractor of state power is able to pull its load of responsibility upwards, out of depression again.''

Dear fellow countrymen, we shall be able to do this. We shall not repeat the mistakes of the past, because we have learned to learn from the past. Each country has its own individual traits and its own traditions. This is also true about Estonia. There is quite a lot we do not like about ourselves, whereas we are especially eager to admire our own weaknesses. And yet we have, in a short time, restored the country where we are now doing better than ever before in the history of Estonia. True, it is now time to understand that the aggravating social inequality in Estonia is the reverse side of our success so far. We have both unemployment and lack of labour force. The most efficient way to reduce social inequality is to invest in education. We will only see the results in many years' time. About in the year 2012, the per capita income in Estonia will be higher than that of the poorest member country in the European Union. The poor people of our country cannot and must not wait that long. The Riigikogu and the Government have the complicated task to fulfil the regulating functions of the state so that the fast growth of our national economy would continue, whereas the social inequality is reduced. Estonia cannot do better than her citizens. Once more: we belong together!

And finally, I would like to speak about love.

The love parents have for their children is a source of true warmth. I think of all the young people who have the courage to have children and to bring them up with love and give them a good example. This is not easy nowadays, as under the pressure of market economy, also children are often seen first and foremost as consumers. We must liberate ourselves from the pressure of the yellow media and understand that wisdom of the heart, as Juhan Smuul has put it, and love and true values first of all come to children through the care and devotion of their parents.

And second: our gratitude, respect and affection must also belong to the older generation, to the pensioners, for whom it is not easy to keep up with changing times. To these people we owe our life, and our beautiful Estonia, the country that they have cared for in spite of the hard times. The older generation, who is living in need today, knew that the quality of life cannot be measured in money or material values. The older generation knew that future is the measure of the quality of life.

Now the time has come for young people to consider this with love, and also to shape the politics of our country accordingly. It is not for the European Union and NATO that we must be brave. We must be brave for the Republic of Estonia and her future. We belong together - and the hopes of different generations, even if they have different names, belong together too.

Do not falter. Estonia will not fail, if she knows that for a small country, time is always short. We have been brave, because life has not been easy for us. We have kept together, and this has helped us, and will help us also in the new century. I wish to all of us that Estonia may be happier in the coming year and that all of you, dear fellow countrymen, may have more self-reliance and more faith in the future in the coming year, and that your faith may be confirmed.

Happy New Year, Estonia!

 

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