Speeches
Search in Speeches:
 
printer friendly document

Remarks by Mr. Lennart Meri, President of the Republic of Estonia at the Presentation of the 1996 Institute for East- West Studies Freedom Award in New York.
25.06.1996

Ladies and Gentlemen,

(As my two colleagues have already mentioned), the three of us at this head table tonight met a month ago in Vilnius in the latest of what are semi-annual trilateral discussions. As you might imagine, in Vilnius we focused largely on security issues, in particular on the enlargement of NATO and the European Union. We did so not, as you also might imagine, out of fear of the East.

One tends to fear the unknown. We cannot possibly fear the East, and I mean that to be Russia, because we know it so well. Through the ages, Russia has been our conqueror. During our struggle to reinstate independence, Russia, as embodied then by Boris Jeltsin, has been our stalwart supporter. Russia will always be our neighbour, and we would like it to be our friend. This is why we share your hope and optimism for Russia's future. The fact that the first round of presidential elections in Russia were free and fair and, according to observers, were conducted in a fully democratic manner, is encouraging to us. Being Russia's neighbour, we understand perhaps better than most that a stable and democratic Russia is our best security guarantee.

No, Ladies and Gentlemen, we three are not obsessed with security out of fear of the East, but rather our of a firm conviction in the values of the West. Our aspirations to someday become full members of NATO and the European Union are an expression of this conviction: by becoming a part of those two institutions, we seek to re-establish our place in the family of Western nations, to which we always have, and will always belong.

We seek to do this together, three Baltic states united in these most fundamental goals. As we stated in an official declaration in Vilnius a month ago, and I quote, ''As we were when we strove to recover our independence, so too now are we united and will remain so.''

I am greatly honoured by this award. Thank you very much.

 

back | archive of speeches | main page

© 2001 Office of the President of the Republic
Phone: +372 631 6202 | Fax: +372 631 6250 | sekretar@vpk.ee
Reden Kõned Speeches Statements Interviews