Dear Fellow Countrymen,
Excellencies,
Officers and Soldiers,
Distinguished Guests,

As we are closing the Baltic Challenge peacekeeping exercises I have two message s to deliver. The first is for the Estonian people. The other is for our partner states, who have sent their sons and daughters to be trained at the town of Paldiski, whereby a one-time military base of the Warsaw Pact was transformed into a peacekeeping centre on the Baltic Sea.

First of all I want to thank my fellow countrymen, no matter whether they are Estonians or Russians, Ingrians or Ukrainians, Germans or Kasakhs, for the unanimous support and interest that has surrounded the Baltic Challenge since its first day.

The Estonian people have learnt a lesson of history and will not repeat the mistakes of the past as they are shaping their future, the future of the Baltic Sea, the future of Europe. Estonia is still a small country. But no longer is she the secluded, isolated and forsaken small country whose fate was decided behind our back. Estonia has been keeping pace with the progress of democracy in Europe and the world at large, and she knows that a small country, too, has its rights and responsibilities. As long as she exercises them she will never be alone.

Estonia has to produce security and stability, in order to ensure prosperity and social justice to all strata of the population. Security cannot be divided into external and internal security; by no means can the two be contrasted. Security is indivisible, and not only is it indivisible in Estonia, but also on the Baltic Sea, in Europe and in the world. And this is what defines Estonia's right to security and Estonia's responsibility to security. If we exercise our rights and responsibilities wisely, jointly with our partner states, and standing firm on our principles, it will be Estonia's self-realization. Here lies our future, the prerequisite of the survival and development of our culture, our language, our fine arts, our sciences. Estonia has understood this. Estonia has regained her place in the world and has no intention to relinquish it to anyone. Estonia has declared and reiterates it today that our aim is integration with Euro-Atlantic economic and security structures, for we have no intention to join the CIS, and there is no third way for us. And let this be said with full rigour to those moon- blind heroes of the quill and politicians who cannot or would not realize that as early as the Singing Revolution our people - the peoples of the Baltic countries - have manifested their mighty will to join the democratic community of the world and have no intention to scratch in the past like hens.

My second message is addressed to our partner states, whose sons and daughters are at Paldiski for the last day today.

I want to thank you that you have made the world conscious of Paldiski in its new role as an centre of international peacekeeping exercises. The flags of eight countries flutter above this peninsula: this fact alone, unprecedented in the history of the Baltic Sea, shows that the need for co-operation has ripened into a will of co- operation and a skill of co-operation. The exercises have integrated eight bodies of troops of different national background and traditions into a single team, which has displayed its ability to act for a common purpose. In these exercises everybody learned from everybody else. I am sure that the ones who learned most of all were citizens of the Republic of Estonia, including uniformed men, inhabitants of Paldiski as well as Tallinners: they learned the meaning of team spirit and confidence, discipline and proper behaviour, and above all the internalization of our common ideals and values by all the countries represented here.

At the time of the Paldiski exercises NATO and the European Union have made important decisions, which have a direct bearing on the future of the Republic of Estonia and our sister countries, Latvia and Lithuania. I am convinced that the servicemen of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and their activity during the peacekeeping exercises here at Paldiski as well as their prior engagement in peacekeeping in other regions have proved that those decisions were right and that the Baltic countries are capable of giving their contribution to the safeguarding of security and stability in the Baltic Sea region, in Europe and in the trans-Atlantic domain.

Therefore allow me, on behalf of the Republic of Estonia, to thank all of you here on the shore of our aboriginal sea for your excellent work, for your united will, for your friendly relations. Exercises, especially when they are so extensive, are never cheap. But peace, stability and security are never too expensive. Every drop of sweat you left in the Estonian soil, every kroon, dollar or mark invested in security will pay back hundredfold. I want to thank you all for shaping the future of Europe. Above all my thanks are due to the United States of America, who bore the lion's share of the expenses of this imposing peacekeeping exercise: the security of your children and grandchildren is a bit safer now. I thank our nearest partners and companions in fortune and misfortune, Latvia and Lithuania, who like Estonia can highly appreciate it that the Baltic Sea has become more secure. I thank the Nordic countries, the children of our common sea - Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Norway - , for whom the Baltic Sea has been an axis of our common life for millennia. I also thank all the neighbouring countries, near and farther off, who have regarded our exercises with understanding and approval: all have proved winners, nobody has lost out because of them.

This is what partnership is about.

Ladies and gentlemen, I declare the Baltic Challenge closed.

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