Estonia's official language is Estonian - Ilves

28.02.2008

"According to the Estonian Constitution, Estonian is the official language of the Republic of Estonia," Ilves said in an interview with the Swedish news agency TT. "Naturally, the Estonian president must stand up for the Constitution and defend the Estonian language, and it is therefore inevitable and quite normal that the Estonian president speaks Estonian to his citizens. Just as other heads of state speak the official language of their countries to their citizens."

Ilves added that he respects the mother tongue of every Estonian citizen and has a high esteem for Estonian laws which by no means restrict anyone from communicating in the language they feel most comfortable in.

"In this respect, private individuals are perfectly free to make their choices, as they are anywhere in the democratic world," the president said. "The official language and official communication necessarily belong to a different category, which the president has to stand up for."

Ilves recalled his remarks to BBC that there are one million Estonians and there is only one place in the world where they can speak Estonian.

The head of state also said he was deeply sorry if his words had been interpreted as an offense to anyone's national feelings or mother tongue.

The Republic of Estonia is a safe home for those who do not have Estonian as home language and whose roots are in other countries, however far, Ilves added.

"But in order to be truly successful in this country, they also ought to learn the official language. I am pleased to see this happening more and more often," he said.

Ilves said he hopes that his remarks in the interview with BBC will not alienate Russian-speakers who still have belief in the Estonian state even if some comments on his statement, which was torn out of context, have raised questions.

Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8861, sise@bns.ee