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The President of the Republic greeted the President of the Federal Republic of Germany24.11.2004
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Professor Horst Köhler and Mrs. Eva Luise Köhler today arrived for an official visit to Estonia and were greeted at Kadriorg by the President of the Republic of Estonia, Arnold Rüütel and Mrs. Ingrid Rüütel.
 The official welcoming ceremony in front of the Presidential Palace was followed by a tete-a-tete meeting between the Presidents and, thereafter, by a meeting together with delegations. The meeting addressed Estonian-German bilateral relations, as well as the cooperation within the framework of the Council of Baltic Sea States and the European Union. Both Heads of State acknowledged that in our relations with the neighbours of the European Union we must speak with one voice. The meeting also addressed the Via Baltica and the Rail Baltica projects. The Presidents gave a joint press conference.
The President of the Republic and Mrs Ingrid Rüütel hosted a dinner in honour of the President of the Federal Republic of Germany and Mrs. Eva Luise Köhler.
In his speech at the dinner, the President of the Republic thanked Germany for its support to Estonia's accession to the European Union and NATO. ''Now we all together have to make joint efforts so that Europe could be considerably more competitive than today and that security and well being could grow. The work done towards the achievement of those goals, be it then in Tallinn or in Berlin, or in Paris and Budapest expressively illustrates European unity. I dare to say that during its long and rich history Europe has never before been as unified than it is today. Dear friends, most probably you can agree with me when I say that we do not have a big nor a small, a new nor an old Europe - we have one and unified Europe'', said President Rüütel.
At the meeting, Federal President Köhler said that he was personally happy about Estonia's EU membership. ''It was my heartfelt wish that I could visit you as soon as possible after taking the office, and I am pleased that I succeeded to do that. My visit should not merely underline the self-evident fact that Estonia belongs to the family of European states. I came here also with a purpose to emphasize how important is the integration of new member states into the European Union for me, and how important are the smaller member states. We, Germans, attach significance to your opinions, to your voice. Thereat, in some issues your opinion may differ from our's. Europe derives is strength from the fact that we can reach the best results through open and intensive discussions. This is a good European tradition'', said the President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Head of the Estonian State invited Federal President Köhler to attend in June next year the reopening ceremony of St. John's Church in Tartu, as the assistance and support rendered by Germany to its restoration has been of imponderable importance for us. The President of the Federal Republic of Germany responded that he would like to come provided his work schedule would permit. ''This very pleasant invitation testifies the durability of German-Estonian cultural ties and that Estonia belongs to the core of the Christian Occident'', noted President Horst Köhler.
Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, November 23, 2004
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