Mrs. President,
Mr. Imants Freibergs,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen.

I greet the President of the Republic of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga and her husband with all my heart. This the first state visit of Latvia to Estonia. Have we lost time? Should we draw negative conclusions from this? My answer is a definite no. We have not lost time. The presidents of Latvia and Estonia have met two or three times a year. Mrs. President and I meet for the sixth time today. Our states have never communicated so frequently before. We have been wise enough to learn from history.

What is it that we have learned from our history?

We have had the same emperors and kings, the same laws and courts, wars and victories; we are in the same climatic zone, have the same sea, the same forests and fields, the same fruits, roads and industrial products. When you look from the distance, our states, including Lithuania, merge into one entity known as the Baltic states, just like the Balkan states. Few people know that we speak different languages, sing different songs and that our arts are different worlds of art. And even fewer people undertsand the reason why we consider our cultural difference so important regardless of the similarity of our political history.

I do not want to look too far ahead in time, but I believe that the similarity of the political history and the cultural difference of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania is our common and unique experience that we would be pleased to share with Europe. What I have in mind is the European Union as a union of independent states, and not as centralised United States of Europe.

At the threshold of the new century it is appropriate to review and summarise the content of the previous century. For Latvians and Estonians its content was winning our independence and creating our own states - yes, our own state is the ultimate goal of the history of both Latvia and Estonia. But the last century also meant occupation and crimes against our nations, our persitence and survival and regaining our independence. All this has been so similar for Latvians and Estonians that it screams for common research, common conclusions, common decisions.

And it is not just the charm of the science of history that makes me emphasise it.
It is obvious that the chronicles of the 20th century can not be closed yet, because the years 1939 and 1940 and the decades that followed are still being interpreted, even though what we have here are not relative issues of morality, but categories of public law. Out smallness should not prevent our voice from being heard. It is our small voice that should help Europe get rid of the burden of the 20th century and move into the new century in a cleaner, rejuvenated state. Small states have the majority in today's world: in the last decades, the United Nations Organisation has grown only on account of small states. The increasing role of this ''silent majority'' can be felt in the world, in the design of international politics, and we should also know how to take such tasks - as future members of the European Union. And in the choir of small states, Latvia and Estonia are singing the same song. For this purpose, we have to stand back to back and give an actual content to our co-operation: we have common foreign political goals - in becoming full members of the European Union and Nato, we are not competitors, but the most active supporters of each others strivings. Mrs. President, people in Estonia noticed your recent words of acknowledgement when you spoke about the concord of our states in foreign political issues and your high opinion of the co-operation of Latvia and Estonia in the area of defence. I would reply to journalists in the same way. Through this actual partnership - under which I mean the mutual co-operation of the Baltic states, our close relationships with Nato and the European Union and our serious everyday homework - we can give the answer that things that were possible before the Second World War are not possible now. This means that we have been given the chance to learn from history. Let us use it.

When I think about our mutual relationship, I would like to surpass pragmatics and emphasise the obligating connection of our common sense of history. This obligation means we have to conduct ethical politics. The repeatedly declared principle that the success and development of one Baltic state is simultaneously the success of all three Baltic states - this principle should be the unshakeable principle of our relationships in the new century.

This is also what we can proceed from when we settle mutual issues, or let me be straightforward - in case of mutual disputes. Which, when I use the nice comparison you gave, are like the relationships between brothers and sisters. But also in these cases, the will and readiness, and the ability to feel that we have common long-term goals, are the main factors. As the heads of state, we can lead the negotiators in this spirit and I believe, Mrs. President, that this is what we will do. The unity of Baltic states in issues that have no global importance at first glance is extremely important in the picture of the 21st century that is taking shape now.

Mrs. President, you have already been able to see Estonia in spring. Our university town Tartu will be waiting for you tomorrow. The Baltic Defence College there is a good example of our successful co-operation and at the same time co-operation with the entire world. This is where you see the actual work that we are doing with determination and together. I believe that you have already experienced and will experience again, how warm, I would like to say - close are the feelings of Estonians for Latvia. They are based on history, about which I already spoke, and personal memories, cultural relationships, continuing educational contact. Estonian citizens who study in Latvia and Latvians who study in Estonia.

I wish you beautiful academic moments in the University of Tartu and professional delight in the Estonian National Museum.

Mrs. President, please allow me, on behalf of Mrs. Helle Meri and myself, to wish you and your husband Mr. Imants Freibergs strength and energy in the work you do for the Republic of Latvia.

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Let us raise our glasses to the President of the Republic of Latvia and her husband.

To the fortune and prosperity of Latvia.

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