My dear compatriots!

The meaning of the public holiday we are celebrating today is quite simple: at times of danger, political parties can place the interests of the nation and the state before the interests of the party. This is the day of national reconciliation.

The military coup in Moscow seven years ago endangered peace in the world and the restoration of state in Estonia. The coup forced the political powers of Estonia, and above all the people of Estonia, to act promptly. Two powers were standing face to face. On one hand there was the Estonian Committee of the Estonian Congress elected by the Estonian Citizens, who defended national continuity; on the other hand there was a body elected as the Supreme Council of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Estonia, of whose members many supported the idea of the Third Republic. Before midnight on August 20, these powers reached an agreement which we today can call historic: their agreement sanctioned the restoration of the independence of Estonia - as the legal successor of the Republic of Estonia that was declared on February 24, 1918.

The reconciliation proved that, at this moment of danger, the Supreme Council was able to learn from the Estonian Congress, and the latter was able to see national unity as a superior value. Proceeding from the principle of legal continuity proved to be a very efficient weapon. It enabled us, on the very next day, to start the restoration of diplomatic relations with democratic countries, who had never recognised the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union. The political will of the Estonian people was so powerful and so convincing that the pace of restoration of relations between countries actually became a question of prestige. This, in its turn, emphasised the authority and trustworthiness of international law, on which small countries have always depended more than big ones.

For Estonia, the national reconciliation on the historic August 20 meant focusing on the principles of the rule of law and restoration of constitutional institutions. Even today, this public holiday compels us to be aware of common interests among the private ones and to consider, first and foremost, the future of the Republic of Estonia. A state can only be born once, but liberty must be reborn every day.

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