Dear friends!

I regret that I cannot be with you on the tenth anniversary of the Congress of Estonia. The Estonian Committees movement and the convening of the Congress of Estonia strengthened the continuity of the Republic of Estonia and decisively contributed to the peaceful restoration of legal state power in the Republic of Estonia.

The history of Europe knows no other citizens' initiative that would have seized a whole nation as entirely and with as great self-discipline. The Congress of Estonia laid the foundation of our present goals. Dear fellow-congressmen and -women, I share our common happiness for this historic event, and our conviction that the fate of the Republic of Estonia is firmly in the hands of the Estonian people.

Yours,

Lennart Meri


In London, on March 12, 2000

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