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EESTI ELU reedel, 3. septembril 2021 — Friday, September 3, 2021
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We’re hiring! Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney awarded Estonian Central Council in Canada Award of Merit September 2, 2021 MONTREAL – On the 30th anniversary of Canada’s re-es tablishment of diplomatic rela tions with The Republic of Estonia, The Estonian Central Council in Canada presented former Prime Minister Rt. Photo: Miller Center, Hon. Brian Mulroney, with its Wikimedia Commons Award of Merit for service to the Estonian community in Canada, in Montreal. Mr. Mulroney was a key figure in advocating for the recognition of Baltic independence among Western world leaders. In 1984, he gave hope to thousands of Estonians who had gathered from around the world, for the World Estonian Festival in Toronto, when Mr. Mulroney committed to support a free and indepen dent Estonia. In his meetings with other Western leaders, Prime Minister Mulroney stood as a true ally and champion for freedom and democracy in the Baltic States and around the world. In addition to expressing his sup port for the Canadian communities that fled nations occupied by the Soviet Union, he resolutely refused to recognize the Soviet occupation of them, despite significant pressure from Soviet leaders. “Mr. Mulroney injected our community with hope and inspiration and helped motivate us to continue our fight for freedom,” said Estonia’s Honourary Consul in Toronto, Laas Leivat. On August 27, 1991, during a press conference with President George HW Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine, Prime Minister Mulroney announced that Canada would take the lead among Western nations and “would begin the process of e stablishing full dip lomatic relations with the Baltic states.” That decision by Prime Minister Mulroney and his government paved the way for other Western nations and allies to follow Canada’s lead. The United States recognized Baltic independence on September 2, 1991. “Today’s Canadian political leaders should look to Mr. Mulroney’s leadership as an example of how Canada can truly shine and lead on the world stage,” said Estonian Central Council in Canada President, Kairi Taul Hemingway. “We are deeply grateful to Mr. Mulroney’s for his leadership and principled decision to quickly recog nize Baltic independence which emboldened other leaders to the same and helped ensure that the Baltic states would never again fall under Russian occupa tion” said Central and Eastern European Council in Canada President, Marcus Kolga. The Estonian Central Council in Canada was estab lished in 1952, as the elected representative organiza tion for all Canadians of Estonian heritage.
The Estonian Foundation of Canada is looking for a roll-up-your-sleeves MANAGER to run the office of this exciting national charity. You will lead marketing, communications and fundraising and help take this charity to the next level. You will also manage the Foundation’s office, funding applications/ EFC agents, donations/donors, awareness campaigns, and ideally plan and write content for platforms such as the EFC website and community news outlets. This position is based in the Toronto office but can provide flexible hours, some remote work, and could evolve in future. You should have a basic understanding of Estonian. We are interested in hearing from you if you have most of these skills or willing to learn. Compensation commensurate with experience. Please apply with resume to: estonianfoundationpresident@gmail.com Estonian Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that supports Estonian cultural and heritage initiatives across Canada.
Iceland and Estonia: 30 years of friendly relations H.E. Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, President of Iceland, ERR, September 2011 Thursday, August 26, marked the thirtieth anniversary of the reestablishment of dip loma tic relations between Iceland and Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Iceland was in fact the first country to recognize the resto ration of independence of the three countries, which in Estonia’s case happened less than a week earlier, on August 20 1991. President of Iceland H.E. Mr. Guðni Th. Jóhannes son has written this piece, re flecting on the occasion. • I first came to Estonia in the summer of 1994, a student of history taking interviews and gathering information for my master’s thesis on Iceland’s support for Baltic independence a few years before. Everywhere I was received with sincere hospitality and friendship. I en joyed the wit and wisdom of Lennart Meri and others who told me about the Estonian struggle for freedom in the dying days of the Soviet Union. In Tallinn and Tartu, I got absorbed in the richness of Estonia’s colorful past, and its rich Nordic connections. The last time I enjoyed the honor of visiting Estonia was in the summer of 2018, as presi dent of my country and its rep resentative when you celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of the declaration of indepen dence in 1918. In the century that has passed since then, the people of Estonia suffered great trials and tribulations. Your fate was far worse than ours. In 1991, independence was finally reclaimed. Today, on the thirtieth anniversary of resumed diplomatic relations between our two countries, I extend my heart-felt congratulations to the people of Estonia. It was your victory, but we Icelanders are pleased and proud that in your time of need, we were able to
offer some help. Our government showed real and symbolic support and our representatives put pressure on statespersons in the international arena. This action was initiated and led by then-Foreign Minister Jón Baldvin Hanni balsson, who visited Tallinn during the fateful days of January 1991. And on August 26 that year, the foreign minis ter, along with Prime Minister Davíð Oddsson and others, received the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries in Reykjavík, where declarations on diplomatic relations were signed. History and memory are complex features of human societies. Nations should not be ashamed to celebrate and strengthen ties that bind them together. Nations should re member achievements and mile stones in their history. In this sense, nationalism can be a positive factor in today’s world, an impetus for progress and prosperity. At the same time, we must defend history from those who aim to use it to promote hatred, bigotry and intolerance. History is multifaceted and open to various interpretations, depend ing on experiences and view points. And we must be honest about mistakes and misde meanors. We should not only recount that which puts us in a positive light in the contempo rary world. The international arena is not a perfect place. Idealism alone cannot guide all actions of small countries. Conversely, neither must Real politik alone rule the world. That must be one of the lessons of history when considering the momentous year of 1991 when the people of Estonia finally regained their freedom and independence. Now three decades have passed. Lessons have been learned, experience gathered. A state is not free if people cannot express themselves freely, if people do not enjoy the free dom of religion, the freedom of love, the freedom from bigotry
and racism, from sexual harass ment and other violent conduct. A nation is not healthy if many citizens suffer from poor mental or physical health, lacking access to professional care. A country will not fare well if its nature is polluted and over exploited. Together we must therefore advance universal human rights. Together, we must also defeat COVID-19 and other global pandemics. And together we must combat the serious effects of human-influenced climate change. As always, the future awaits, with all its challenges and opportunities. In Iceland, the affection for Estonia will re main strong. Since the reclama tion of independence, we have enjoyed strengthened ties be tween our two countries in the fields of trade and tourism, culture and education. Esto nians have moved to Iceland to work, some of them settling permanently and enriching our society. I wish all citizens of Estonia prosperity and happiness.
President-elect… (Continued from page 8)
logistics of moving into Kad riorg, or even if he will reside there. He has started liaising with the President’s Office director already, he added. The head of state may reside at Kadriorg, but is not obliged to. Karis was elected at the second ballot with 72 votes at the 101-seat Riigikogu, after a sufficient number of opposition Isamaa and Social Democrat MPs voted for him. He had missed out on the 68 vote threshold required to get elected on Monday, by five votes.
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