Dear friends, and all thoseinvolved in Estonian life in Washington!
I welcome all the membersand friends of the Estonian American National Council on the occasion of thecouncil’s 60th anniversary. You have endured for a practicallyunbelievable sixty years! Sixty years is an unusually long time for an Estonianorganization, especially when it comes to political organizations. Sinceneither our country nor our political structures have been allowed to developuninterrupted, the longevity of Estonian political organizations in thehomeland has been limited to a fewdecades.
In order to comprehend themeaning of sixty years of time, let us think back to the year 1952: Estonia wasgoverned by a repressive Stalinist system in all its cruelty. Or if we jumpback another 60 years, we’ll find Estonia still under the czarist Russianinfluence of Alexander III. It was right at that moment,when the situation in Estonian society was the most complicated, when Stalin’scommunist regime was in full force and our compatriots felt fear with everystep they made, either in the city or in the countryside – right at that momentyou and your predecessors understood that in the Free World there areopportunities to speak out for justice and that every such opportunity must beutilized. The occupation and annexation of the Republic of Estonia by theSoviet Union was illegal and the democratic world, first and foremost theUnited States of America, declaratively did not recognize the occupation. But resistanceagainst the communist powers in Estonia and efforts to reach the goal ofrestoring the true independence of the Republic of Estonia could not, even inthe Free World, be passive, limited to every Estonian having a littleblue-black-white flag sitting on his desk. The world had to be constantlyreminded of the situation of Estonia and our Baltic neighbors who shared ourfate – the best way to do this was to gathertogether our forces. So that we would be noticed in Washington and people wouldsee that there are a lot of us, and that our right and desire for independenceis unwavering. So that the issue of restoring Estonia’s independence would notdisappear into the depths of America’s foreign policy. I believe that theEstonian American National Council was born of this kind of idealism.
Those of you who areEstonian citizens by birth and also became citizens of your new country ofresidence, America – you ended up with an unprecedented and vital task: tostand for Estonia on the other side of the “Great Puddle”, as it is called inEstonia. The Republic of Estonia gives its heartfelt thanks to all of you thattook on this task.
We thank you for the factthat from as early as the 1950s all the way until 20 August 1991 you neverallowed the fight for the restoration of Estonia’s independence to die down.August of 1991 and the international recognition of Estonia’s restoredindependence never would have been possible without the unequivocal support ofthe Free World, and there is no doubt that the Estonian American NationalCouncil had its hand in this. It was important. But your activities in laterdecades were also important, when the matter of Russian troops leaving Estoniansoil came into question. And ten years later when Estonia acceded to NATO.
InEstonia we recognize the tremendous help (and lobbying) that the EstonianAmerican National Council has put forth in these processes.
But the Estonian AmericanNational Council remains an important outpost for promoting Estonia’s interestsat the pulse point of the United States even today. I wish you strength and awonderful anniversary! I hope that today the banquet tables are bountiful – itis Mihklipäev, after all! – and that the traditional lamb dish is not missingfrom the feast.