Johann Laidoner was a soldier and a politician. This is a imprint he has left on the Estonian history. As a soldier -- a fighter and a winner. As a politician - a soldier and a loser. In this way, considering the light and shade, we have to judge him on the commemoration day today. We can hardly imagine that the victory of the War of Independence would have been possible without his genius for leadership. General Laidoner became the aggregate figure of soldier's bravery and it is impossible to overestimate his services in establishing the Republic of Estonia.

Still, we must not turn a blind eye to the mistakes that resulted in the occupation of Estonia for half a century. As a politician, General Laidoner was night-blind. In 1939 his soldier's intuition did not detect the foul play played by Stalin and Hitler, Molotov and Ribbentrop. This left a death impress on him. He did not die as a soldier, he died as a prisoner. He was imprisoned by the Soviet occupation power. But his fate was sealed up even before the occupation by his renunciation from parliamentary democracy and going along with the authoritarian regime. Thus, on 17 June 1940, General Laidoner was forced, with his own signature, to surrender to the conditions by which the Republic of Estonia was occupied. Bad politics had left Estonia internationally in isolation and help could not be expected from anywhere.

As a soldier, he had sworn to stand firmly for the Republic of Estonia. As a politician, he was not able to keep his oath.

A year later, our most outstanding army leader disappeared to the Soviet Gulag prison camps and we do not even know where his grave is.

This was the tragedy of General Laidoner. It is the tragedy of the whole Estonian nation. Today we must do everything in our power to avoid such events at all costs, in order to secure that Estonia, built up for the second time with our own hands, will go on and prosper.

It must be the most superior goal in our hearts that we take serious care of the national security of the Republic of Estonia. Nobody besides ourselves will do that. Every nation that wants to live as a state must express its will to do that. A nation can rely only on itself. That will is expressed through our army. And only after expressing the will we can suddenly see that Estonia is no longer alone. We can see that the whole democratic world is our ally.

Dear serviceman! The Republic of Estonia is supported by your shoulders. It depends on the politicians how much the people trust their state. Our goal is not just the Republic of Estonia but a secure and open state of law and order. This is a message of the commemoration day of General Laidoner, this is the message of a brilliant soldier and tragic statesman for today.

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