Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour for me to address once again, but this time in my capacity of Estonian President, a forum which has played such a vital role in my countries struggle for freedom. Although we became full members of the Council of Europe in May 1993, we regard our relations with the Council of Europe to have begun much earlier, in the year 1960 to be exact. That year, the Council's Consultative Assembly passed a resolution on the twentieth anniversary of Estonia's occupation by the Red Army under the Hitler-Stalin agreement. The resolution noted the illegal annexation of the three Baltic states and recorded the fact that the de jure existence of our countries was never questioned, but recognized by the democratic governments of the world.

That first resolution denouncing the occupation of Estonia was followed by another in 1963, and another in 1983 and again in 1986. In short, the dedication on the part of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to democracy and sovereignty in the Baltic states did not start in recent years, but has been going on for decades.

This is not surprising, as the Council of Europe is the oldest and most esteemed guardian of our common European values. Estonia appreciates highly the role of the Parliamentary Assembly as a kind of conscience of our continent. From our historical experience, we know that democracy and the protection of human rights are not static in quality, but constitute a dynamic process. We must fight for these freedoms every day and in everywhere, because when democracy is taken for granted or worse, is ignored, or still worse - is staged in the best Potiomkin traditions of the Soviet Intourist. Democracy can become weakened to the point beyond return.
The Council of Europe has taken a leading role in ensuring that democracy maintains its necessary vitality. The conventions passed by this body, beginning with the Statute, have served as a kind of blueprint for Estonia since we re-instated our independence and began the painstaking process of rebuilding democracy out of the ashes of totalitarianism. There is no doubt that the Council of Europe is the primary organisation for protecting human rights, and, after the Vienna summit, the rights of national minorities in Europe. The Estonian Foreign Minister Jüri Luik signed the Framework Convention on the Protection of National Minorities on February 2, 1995. Estonia's legislation and day-to-day policy of national minorities has gone even farther than the Framework Convention. I would like to remind you that Estonia has a long history of liberal policies vis-a-vis minorities, having adopted a Law on Cultural Autonomy back in 1925.

Last month, we conducted our second post-Communist elections, deemed free and fair by international observers. The people voted overwhelmingly for staying the course of free-market reforms, but with what perhaps could be called a greater social component.

It is vital to note that no extremist groups, either from those with a Communist legacy or those from the right, got into parliament. Just as important, Estonia's growing citizenry of Russian origin actively exercised the right to vote. In fact, the one Russian political party standing for elections was one of only seven parties or lists to garner the minimum 5% needed to pass into parliament. There are also representatives of different minorities in several other parliamentary groups.

This is an accomplishment which bespeaks of another great part of our democratic efforts, namely the construction of a fair and just nationality policy based on political participation for all who have demonstrated loyalty to the state. In Estonia, permanently residing foreigners are participating in local elections. The cornerstone of this nationality policy is our liberal citizenship law.
Last month, US Vice President Al Gore briefly visited Tallinn. While there, before a crowd in our medieval Town Hall Square, he paid tribute to the success of our nationality policy by saying, and I quote, "History teaches us that national independence can in some places stimulate national chauvinism. Yet Estonia's fair implementation of its citizenship law and political participation of Estonian citizens of Russian origin show that Estonia is becoming a state rooted in law, tolerance and based on modern civic values. In this demonstration of tolerance, Estonia is a model for the rest of the world" (end of quote).

The other integral aspect of democracy that we have pursued with vigour is transforming a command economy into a free-market, thus creating conditions under which every resident of Estonia has the opportunity to realise their economic potential.

This policy has borne fruit. If four years ago over 90% of our trade went East, then today, the two thirds of our foreign trade is with European Union member states. We have utilised the few foreign loans we have taken for capital investments. The latest data includes Estonia among the countries with low foreign debt. Our policy is trade, not aid. Foreign investments continue to double every six months, and exports are up. Our currency, the Estonian kroon, is pegged to the German Mark and our foreign currency reserves have more than tripled since kroon was introduced in 1992. We have a balanced state budget and actual growth in the GDP. Our low taxation and full repatriation of profits for foreigners doing business in Estonia make us increasingly attractive to investors. Privatisation process in Estonia is considered as one of the most radical in Central and Eastern Europe. All this has raised standards-of-living which in turn is convincing people that there is no alternative to the policy of radical reforms.

Mr. President, the Council of Europe has been of considerable assistance in this endeavour. Estonia's rapid integration into the structures of Europe has been aided by the co-operation and assistance programs which the Council of Europe launched with the Central and European countries. An outstanding example is the help the Council of Europe has provided in the legal field. After Estonia restored herself as a constitutional democracy, the Estonian Parliament has adopted 430 laws and other legal acts, the most significant of which have been scrutinised by the experts of the Council of Europe. Estonia has firmly established itself as a state based on the rule of law. One of the central elements in our legislative process is the harmonisation of all legal acts with the demands of the European Convention on the Protection of Human Rights and all its additional protocols. I am happy to inform you that the ratification process is in the final stage.

Numerous assistance programs are provided jointly by the Council of Europe and the European Union. We welcome the co-operation of these two bodies as an integral part in the development of Europe's political architecture. I am pleased to say that Estonia will sign its association agreement with the European Union in May.

The Council of Europe could do more, specifically by increasing co-operation with other organisations, such as the OSCE, devoted to similar issues.

As a state with a strong commitment to fiscal responsibility, Estonia wholeheartedly supports increased coordination among complementary bodies as a way not only to avoid duplication of effort. As a small state, we simply have reached our financial - not moral! - limits for participation in a growing number on international organisations. I would be happy if the OSCE and the Council of Europe begin to exchange better and more timely information, if these organizations take into account more fully the work done by others. In fact, I believe that ignoring the efforts of others could inadvertently undermine credibility of various bodies and posts, such as special commissioners, which have been created by those bodies.
At this time, the Council of Europe possesses limited means to help potential new members meet those standards, relative to organizations such as the UN and the OSCE. For this reason, we should utilize more fully the principle of comparative advantage and cooperage with those organizations which are currently better placed to provide assistance to potential Council members. Such a strategy will lead us more effectively to our goals.

Another organisation that, in its own way, guards the principles to which Council of Europe states ascribe, is NATO. As you know, the first four articles of the North Atlantic Treaty refer to the norms of international behaviour and values that democratic states have in common. During the Cold War, NATO defended those values. At the same time, those states made up the free community of nations known as The West. We can think of NATO during that period as a kind of Zone of Shared Western Values.

This was, of course, no coincidence. It is an axiom of international politics that democratic states tend not to go to war with other democratic states. If NATO overlapped with a Zone of Shared Western Values during the Cold War, then it should be in everyone's interest to enlarge that zone, thus to enlarge that zone, thus to enlarge the Alliance. Thus, in any discussion of shared European values, rather than asking why NATO should enlarge, we ought to be thinking about why it is imperative to Western civilisation that it does.

Mr. President,
I would turn now to an issue of primary concern of this body, namely the acceptance of new members into the Council of Europe. First, let me say that on behalf of Estonia, I am deeply gratified that our southern neighbour, Latvia, is a member of this august organisation.

We are hopeful that soon, Ukraine will also be seated in this Assembly. Estonia shares your view that Ukraine is unquestionably an integral part of Europe. By virtue of its geographical location, its historical legacy, the size of its population and the vitality of its political and cultural life, the Ukraine is quintessentially European state. This state has made great progress in the theory and praxis of establishing democratic institutions, and these efforts deserve to be recognized by the Council of Europe.

We are also hopeful that Moldova will soon be in our midst. In this regard, we call on Russia to honour the agreements to withdraw troops from Moldova, as it did last August with Estonia. We understand better than most what hindrance to democracy occupying troops can be. We also understand the power of international opinion in encouraging fulfilment of troop withdrawal obligations, and hence appeal to this body to provide Moldova with the same support we were accorded.

In conclusion, Mr. President, I would turn to Russia's candidacy for Council of Europe membership. I am gratified that last February, in light of the continuing undeclared war against Chechnya, this body passed a resolution suspending action of the Parliamentary Assembly's role as the conscience of the continent and I applaud your commitment to principles. As you rightly concluded two months ago, Russia's membership cannot be considered until such time as Russia meets the standards which all potential states must achieve.

In this connection, we might recall another similar situation involving former Yugoslavia. Despite George Kenney's assessment in The New York Times Magazine two days ago that the number of civilian deaths in Bosnia has been grossly exaggerated, most observers continue to believe more conventional estimates that hundreds of thousands of people have been killed there. When the bloodshed became overwhelming in that troubled part of the world, rump Yugoslavia's activities in the UN and the then-CSCE were suspended.

It is therefore all the more inexplicable why some states continue to push for Russia's speedy accession to the Council of Europe given a situation in which more civilians have already been killed in Chechnya as in Bosnia before rump Yugoslavia became a pariah in world community. This is an example of the double standards which the Council of Europe must not tolerate. Instead, the Council should continue its policy of doing all in its power to encourage democratic developments in Russia. I share the view of others in this room that Russia should join the Council as a full-fledged member only when it meets the requirements of being a democratic state that honours human rights.

Mr. President,

the next few months in Estonia will be a period of intensive preparations in order to fulfil the role of Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. This is a great honour for Estonia. At the same time we see it as a challenge. In the period remaining we will continue to elaborate the ideas which we regard to be the priorities of the Council of Europe for our Chairmanship period.

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