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New Year Address by the President of the Republic to the Nation 31 December 2002
31.12.2002


Dear People of Estonia,
Dear Fellow Countrymen,

The miracle of each year's last moments consists in the uniqueness of their recurrence. In keeping with tradition, the majority of families have gathered around common festive tables - within each other's reach, sight or hearing. At least during Christmas and tonight we feel like one family. Together we assess the past and, through our wishes, try to anticipate and influence the future.

Standing together on the boundary of time gives each turn of the year a miraculous shade. Thanks to that, we feel that the difficulties experienced by us belong to the inescapability of life. What we have left behind seems to be overcome. The man just has been created in the way that all the bad falls into oblivion and one continues to live in faith and hope.

The outgoing year has brought for Estonia the awaited invitation to NATO and the European Union. The principle determining NATO's action - "All for one and one for all", for the first time in the history of Estonia gives us certainty that our country and people will not be deserted if faced with possible threats.

We are aware of the efforts made by the first generation of Estonian politicians in order to conclude defence and cooperation agreements with our neighbours in the north and south. Those efforts yielded no results and the Estonians ended up deprived of their state. Due to this lesson given by the history we have strived for forms of cooperation and alliances, which would safeguard or support the freedom of our internal development. Now, both NATO and the European Union are within reach and, in 2004, we will have the chance of crossing the threshold.

The importance of both these aims cannot be overestimated. Joining both NATO and the European Union can be compared with the redemption of all those sufferings our people have had to go through during the history. And so, the President of the European commission, Romano Prodi, compared the invitation of Estonia and the Baltic States to the European Union with putting the gained freedom into a safe.

That is truly so! For we are witnessing that, in addition to military, political and economic security provided by both the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union, the Western civilization is joining together. And this very fact should ease our feeling of separation and the anxiety arising from that, which we have also had to experience in the course of history.

With regard to both accession processes, there has been a lot of talk about money. How much would we gain and how much should we ourselves pay? Yet, there has been much less talk about changes in our environment of signs resulting from our accession to the European Union and NATO. I am sure that new values will affect the way, how we feel and think, and our new, European identity will only strengthen our national spirit and dignity.

Dear Fellow Countrymen! The integration of Estonia into Europe has demanded from all of our people great material sacrifices and spiritual efforts. However, our willingness to fulfil the obligations taken has won general recognition. We have been capable of asserting ourselves as a nation once again, and for that, I would like to thank you.

Now we have to prepare ourselves well for the referendum on the EU in order to make the right decision in September of the year beginning in a moment. The last opinion polls demonstrate that, in a referendum, we would not hesitate to make our choice in favour of the European Union. The compromises made do not hurt our national dignity, and we will keep the right to determine our life ourselves.

In addition, Dear Friends, I want to thank you for having maintained your faith in our state's ability to reach the goals set. You have accomplished it in spite of tensions in Estonian domestic policy, which at the beginning of this year led to an early change of government, in spite of a continuously deep gap between the well-offs and those in need who make up quite a big proportion of our people.

However, having regard to all our achievements of the outgoing year, we cannot ignore our concerns. In the first place - Estonia's demographic future. We should think about the fact that already in a couple of decades the number of us, the Estonians celebrating the turn of the year, will be fallen by a fifth. This should make us not only ponder but also act in order to keep us from living at the expense of future generations.

I do hope the people's mental and physical health to become the focus to a larger extent than so far. One of the next year's priorities, in addition to demographic measures, must become putting the Estonian educational system on a sound and flexible basis. Estonia's sustainability is not conceivable if not supported by free access to education for all members of our society and by education's high quality.

In order to make our people survive and progress it is absolutely necessary to guarantee a general growth of economic welfare and an efficient enhancement of country's internal security. And if we add to the aforementioned well-balanced relations between local and central authorities, we have named all of our most important tasks, which require a national agreement to be accomplished.

The conclusion of a generalizing agreement like this requires a far-reaching social dialogue at both higher and lower levels. As for the latter, the resumption of talks between the trade unions, employers and government would definitely be of paramount importance.

In the general election scheduled for March next year, all of us will have an opportunity to decide which political forces are we going to entrust with leading our state and society. Already now, I would like to call upon all of those entitled to vote not to refrain from taking this opportunity. I hope that the Estonian press would do their utmost in order to make this choice an open exchange of ideas about the future of our country and the centre of this exchange of ideas, above all, the Estonian people, family and society.

Dear People,

In a few seconds, the year 2002 will become the past. It was a historic year for Estonia. However, we have lived being aware of the historic meaning of our time during all of the last dozen and even more years. The contributions made by every Estonian home, family and man can be compared with laying stones in the foundations, on which we build our hopes for the eternity.

At this moment, on the threshold of a new year that literally marks the beginning of a new era, we can with pride and satisfaction look back at the way covered. But preparing to meet the new one - filled with new tasks, difficulties and pleasures - we can feel even more calmness and fortitude. With our mind on the future, let us fall back on the spirit of our ancestors and on the firm belief that we are standing here out of our choice. Let this belief be strengthened by our love for our country, people and families.

A Happy New Year, Estonia!


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