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The President of the Republic at the opening session of the Chamber of the President's Roundtable of National Minorities on November 9, 2002, at the National Library09.11.2002
Honourable Mr Minister,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Members of the Roundtable of National Minorities and of the Roundtable's Chamber,
The President's Roundtable of National Minorities was founded 1993 in a situation where not a single one of our national minorities was represented in the Riigikogu. Besides, they did not have any other institutional contacts with the Estonian state either. The created roundtable gave all the national minorities a possibility to discuss on regular basis their problems with members of the Riigikogu and to help shape the national-minority policy of re-independent Estonia.
The foundation of roundtable was supported by the Association of Nationalities of Estonia, by other organisations of national minorities living in Estonia and, likewise, by embassies of several foreign countries. As early as 1993, due to the help of the roundtable's members, we succeeded in easing the tensions which had come up in Northeast Estonia by that time. With it, the new institution proved its vitality and willingness to have positive influence on the developments in the Estonian state.
For now, the Roundtable of National Minorities already in the course of nearly a decade has been working out recommendations and proposals to both legislative and executive powers of Estonia on how to resolve socio-economic, cultural and legal problems of the national minorities. The membership of the roundtable constitutes a serious board of experts to be reckoned with.
Now it is time to widen the basis of discussions. For this reason, we have decided to call into being a Chamber of the Roundtable of National Minorities, in which as many as possible of national minorities` cultural and educational societies would be represented.
Estonia, due to the whirligig of our history, already for centuries has had a population of different ethnic background. Representatives of these ethnicities have come here as conquerors, re-settlers and as refugees too. The Estonians being the indigenous people of the country, in the course of times have themselves been an ethnic minority within larger states and organisations - should we apply modern notions on the remote and also on the more recent past. Due to our geopolitical location, we have constantly been living in close contact with other people, languages and cultures.
However, it would not be right to draw today without modifications on our experience of the past, since not only the functions of states but also the nature and meaning of peoples and cultures are changing. Reassessment of historical experience concomitant with globalization of economic life and social relations is regarded as one of the essential characteristic features of the post-modern era.
At the same time, we have to admit that reassessment might entail a serious crisis of identity and, that in turn, a renewed withdrawal and clinging on to old and tried out approaches. I believe you share my view that national and cultural identity and recognition of them could be just the bridges helping all of us to overcome difficulties and uncertainty caused by the change of paradigm. Constructive national spirit and appreciation of culture have been the very essential prerequisites for the progress of technology and economy and the interaction of cultures in the globalizing world.
It is true of Estonia as well. Our state and people need to meet the challenges of globalization and, simultaneously, to keep and to develop further those basic values thanks to which we have gained the right to have a say in shaping and determining the new millennium.
Networking has become an important keyword of the new era. The interaction between different nationalities, cultures, social and economic interests can have its most productive effect just within these networks. These networks are characterized by considering each other's interests, and through it, appreciating common values and achieving common goals laid down.
The first session of the Chamber of National Minorities assembled today, in my view, is carrying this very message. All national minorities living in the Republic of Estonia have with the titular nationality, the Estonians, many common goals for the sake of building our democratic state.
All of us would like to live in a society stable in economic and secure in social terms, an essential guarantor of which would be the democratic state of Estonia. The transition period carried by fundamental reforms is drawing to a close. These times have demanded from us use of vital resources, to the renewal of which we need to pay particular attention now.
There are also resources, which we were not able to use, or which we had neglected, but organizing of which must be the purpose of our efforts henceforth. The paramount of them is the human resource holding the potential to be our social capital in improving the environment of life. A stable and balanced development of a country can be built based, first and foremost, on its social capital. Our national minorities make up a significant part of this capital. Shared values are internalised through a social dialogue and they enable to reach common goals, which however, should one part of social groups be left out, cannot be reached or would not give us the feeling of social safety sought for.
The President's Academic Council has launched the process of national accord. In this process, the matters to be agreed upon and the subjects of society going to sign and to put into practice the accord are of equal importance. I do hope that the Chamber of the Roundtable of National Minorities holding its first session today became a forum, in which the subject area of the national accord be discussed and complemented, and where a decision to support it also would be made.
While designing and planning our future we must proceed on the conviction that there is only one Estonia. Moreover, there is only one world given to us too, on the improvement of which prosperity and security of coming generations depend. Soon we will jointly make a decision concerning the accession to the European Union. I believe that we are ready to share the responsibility for the future of Europe. It also means taking shared responsibility for the wellbeing of many peoples and cultures.
One part of common decisions will increasingly affect others. For this reason, I am confident that the Chamber of the Roundtable of National Minorities has been born just in time to safeguard that the decisions to be made were based on a consensus as broad as possible.
I wish you strength and belief for planning and realizing our common future!
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