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President of the Republic REMARKS at the Flag-raising Ceremony to Mark in front of Kadriorg Palace on 1 May 200401.05.2004
Members of the Riigikogu, Members of the Government,
Excellencies,
Fellow countrymen.
Today is the day we have worked for hard for several years. Side-by-side with Estonian national flags hoisted early in the morning, blue flags with a star wreath were raised. For the European Union this is the fifth and the largest enlargement, which will do away with the remnants of the Iron Wall.
Today we can be contented and happy - for us, for Estonia and the entire Europe. We know that Europe of our era is able to stand for herself and take decisions on its future. She is able because we are all jointly committed.
This is the day to address words of gratitude to many people. For example to Friedrich Martens, an Estonian diplomat and professor of law who in 1899, at the first peace conference in The Hague attempted to convince European politicians and government officials in the expediency of continued political and economic cooperation. Now when we have reached through Pan-European movement today's world, we see all the past years of now independent Estonia unrolling like frames of a newsreel.
First we see the people. All the people of Estonia, doing their daily work and creating values have contributed to the development of their homeland and accession progress. My gratitude goes to the entire nation for the dignity and determination in expressing their will at the referendum in September.
Next we see images of politicians and officials who over the years have focused on Estonia's accession to the European Union and NATO. We see former President of Estonia Lennart Meri as a champion of the process; we see members of the Riigikogu and governments of independent Estonia taking numerous decisions, significant and not so significant. We see also Ambassador Alar Streimann and all other members of negotiation delegations and working groups at discussions over thousands of details. I am convinced that they will remember to the end of their life the principle that until everything is agreed, nothing is agreed.
Against this background we see the tremendous accomplishment of all the ministries and other state agencies in all possible fields. We see also our economy developing and trade flowing towards the European Union. Definitely, we see the achievements in culture and science, which promoted and familiarised us from Lapland to Portugal. It is amazing that small Estonia has accomplished all this.
The accession to the European Union has been our goal ever since the restoration of independence. In 1992, a trade and economic cooperation agreement followed establishment of diplomatic relations with the European Community. Two years later we entered into a free trade agreement. Our regular cooperation entered a new stage with the Association Agreement or Europe Agreement on 12 June 1995, which entered into force in 1998. In November 1995, the Government of Estonia submitted a EU accession application. Accession negotiations started in 1998, and they lasted until the final agreement was achieved in Copenhagen in December 2002. The agreement was confirmed with signing of the Accession Treaty on 16 April 2003. On 14 September 2003, at the referendum the turnout was 64 per cent, with 66 per cent of the participants voting for the accession to the European Union.
Although at the Luxembourg Summit in December 1997, the European Union decided to hold bilateral accession negotiations with six countries, ten are acceding to the European Union today - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus and Malta. I am sure that the European Union will only gain from this enlargement. And, no doubt, synergy arising from the cooperation of twenty-five Member States is giving an additional impetus to each of them.
Dear fellow countrymen, thank you for your commitment in taking Estonia to the European Union. I extend my words of gratitude also to organisations and individuals outside Estonia. I thank all the EU Member States, all the partners with whom our cooperation is going to be more diversified and comprehensive.
We have every reason to believe that out of all similar historical attempts the current unification of Europe is the best and most lasting. It entails free will and cooperation of the parties and is the most diversified and balanced. With the help of intellectual and executive level integration, it aims at the welfare - for not just a few but many.
As a sign of our creative spirit and good ideas we take with us to the European Union, we launch today a tree-planting action across Estonia. The participants at the Song and Dance Festival have initiated an action to plant at least a million trees. I do believe that this is a meaningful symbol not only for the external world but also for us - a sign of increased attention and better mutual understanding. A sign to be more caring vis-ą-vis fellow citizens and the nature. A sign for increased cooperation preparedness in promoting personal life and building up our society.
As a forest nation we are convinced that planting a tree is one of the most dignified good deeds to be done during one's lifetime. Planting of trees reflects also the wisdom and sustainable thinking originating from uninterrupted sequence of generations. We plant trees thinking of our children and grandchildren. I wish that a will to give life to new trees in the direct and indirect sense of the word, would characterise our activities in future as well. I have confidence in this will - after all, Estonia is positively transforming!
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