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The President of the Republic delivered a speech on world politics
20.01.2006


President Rüütel yesterday visited a research centre of the University of California, met with local Estonians and delivered a speech at the World Affairs Council of Northern California.

At the UCSF Mission Bay campus, the President of the Republic visited the Centre for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3). The head of the centre Dr. Douglas Crawford gave the Head of Estonian State an overview of the centre’s research activities, which, for example, enable to establish within the first 48 hours following the beginning of treatment of cancer patients weather the treatment has already given positive results. In the words of Dr. Crawford, the creation and development of new drugs has become very inefficient - though more and more money is spent, less drugs are received - therefore, in diagnostics and treatment of diseases it is necessary to focus more on novel possibilities. President Rüütel, who, being a scientist himself and former rector of a university, has been involved in development of research in biotechnology, said that the strong potential of Estonian scientific community would certainly facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation in that field.

In the afternoon, President Rüütel met in St. Francis Conference Hall of the Hotel Westin with Estonians living in San Francisco area. President Rüütel spoke about the development of the state since the restoration of Estonia’s independence and answered numerous questions asked by the audience.

In the evening, the Head of Estonian State delivered a lecture at the World Affairs Council of Northern California, where the next visiting lecturers participating in the discussions on world affairs will be Chris Patten, the Chancellor for the University of Oxford, a former member of the European Commission, and Ambassador Paul Bremer, the representative of the U.S. President in Iraq. The title of the speech delivered by the President of the republic was: “Back to the Free World: 15 Years of Building Modern Baltic states.”

President Rüütel delivered a speech at the World Affairs Council of Northern California.President Rüütel started his speech talking about the historical experience of Estonia and the work done for the sake of restoration of independence, putting a special emphasise on the significant role of Baltic cooperation. After that, the President of the Republic spoke about the current activities of Estonia in the European Union and NATO, but also in the UN, and Estonia’s contribution to development of democracy in the world. In conclusion, the Head of Estonian State stressed the importance of values based on democracy in solving the problems of the globalising world.

“In today’s world where for example energy interests play a considerable role, the temptation to abandon values might be rather high. Today we see all this in the behaviour of various countries regarding the nuclear problems of Iran. We have heard statements about the impossibility of a value-based foreign policy from several capitals in the world. Estonia does not approve building inter-state relations solely upon interests. Often, a poorly interest-based approach is only a smoke-screen for abandoning widely recognised values” the Head of Estonian state said.

The President of the Republic answered numerous questions asked by a very competent audience, which concerned, for example, Estonian economic policy and health care system, but also Estonia’s contribution to the fight against drug trafficking, and Estonia’s viewpoints about different other international topics. The interest towards the presentation made by the Head of Estonian State was great ? the auditorium seating several hundred people was packed and could not admit everyone who wanted to attend, the presentation was recorded by the local radio and TV, and will be broadcasted in full length.

The full text of the speech delivered by President Rüütel is available at: www.president.ee.

On Friday, January 20, the President of the Republic will visit the Stanford University; will meet the former U.S. Secretary of Defence Dr. William Perry, who is now a professor at Stanford University, and dr. Coit Blacker, Director of the Stanford University Institute for International Studies. During a festive dinner held at Stanford University Centre for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), President Rüütel will deliver a speech that will address Estonia’s viewpoints as a NATO member concerning the development of international security.

Friday evening, President Rüütel will visit the Golden Gate Bridge and other sights in San Francisco, and after that will leave the United States of America. The Head of State will arrive back in Estonia on Saturday late in the evening.


Public Relations Department of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, January 20, 2006


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