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The President of the Republic appealed in his anniversary speech for the conclusion of a social agreement24.02.2002
The President of the Republic Arnold Rüütel said in his speech held in the Estonia Theatre tonight on the 84th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia that Estonia needs a new social agreement for the balancing of its development.
According to the Head of State, such an agreement would be aimed at the social sustainability of the society and would secure considerable improvement of the quality of life in the state. "That agreement could specify a certain allocation from the national income for the support of the demographic restoration programme in Estonia. The social agreement should secure social and national security and provide guarantees for the continuation of the Estonian language and culture and also education and science," emphasised President Rüütel.
The Head of State gave the following reasons: "The new social agreement should give an organised picture of the general development trends of Estonia for the next ten or twenty years. There is currently no such picture. It is like a situation on a ship that is leaving the port with the crew members at their posts without asking the passengers where they want to go. True enough, efforts have been made to prepare development plans for different areas of activities, but these are on different levels and have not been interconnected."
According to the President, all those who feel that Estonia is standing again at important crossroads could be parties to that agreement. Both intellectuals and politicians and business communities have an important role here.
"The future of Estonia depends to a large extent on whether we can build up civil society and develop further the rule of law, noted the Head of State. Development of the civil society has been impeded by taking the opinion of the people little into consideration, by the distance of reforms from citizens and by bureaucracy."
President Rüütel emphasised that reaching the social agreement requires that we rise above narrow interests of groups, daily policy and individualism. He said: "Our current choices will influence our fate for decades, even for centuries."
The events of the 84th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia started at sunrise at 7:34 with the festive hoisting of the national flag to the Tall Hermann Tower on the Toompea Hill. At 10:00, President Arnold Rüütel received the parade of the Defence Forces at Vabaduse Square. At 11:30 the President of the Republic and Mrs Ingrid Rüütel were at the Independence Day service in the Kaarli Church.
The festive concert dedicated to the Independence Day started at 18:00 in the building of the Estonia Theatre. The Estonian State Symphony Orchestra with the Estonian Boys' Choir and the Estonian United Boys' Choir will perform at the concert that will start after the anniversary speech of the President of the Republic of Estonia. The overture Julius Caesar by Rudolf Tobias and the Fantasy for Choir, Piano and Orchestra op. 80 by Ludwig van Beethoven will be conducted by Nikolai Aleksejev.
The concert will be followed by the reception hosted by the President of the Republic and Mrs Ingrid Rüütel in the building of the Estonian Theatre. The orchestra conducted by Peeter Saul will play at the reception. The Estonian Television will record the reception and broadcast it after the main Aktuaalne Kaamera news programme.
Press Service of the Office of the President
At Kadriorg on 24 February 2002
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