TALLINN, Sep 08, BNS - Estonia's own efforts and membership in the European Union and NATO secure the country's independence also in changed security conditions, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves says.
Addressing the opening meeting of the parliament's fall session today, the president wished lawmakers the same foresight and decisiveness as shown by politicians 20 and 90 years ago when they seized the opportunity opened to Estonia by the changed international situation. "Today too we are facing a changed international situation. We live in a totally different Europe since August 8," Ilves said.
In Ilves' words, we do not yet realize the whole content, scope and consequences of those changes but are still getting to know this new environment and are just starting to seek answers to questions about what the altered security paradigm means to Europe.
He said the most important thing is to realize that the security environment in which the Republic of Estonia was restored in 1991, in which it has been built and reformed since then, and in which it gained membership in the EU and NATO no longer exists.
"We need not feel groundless insecurity about our future. I assure you that Estonia's own efforts over 17 years and membership in the European Union and NATO ensure sufficient security for Estonia's independence also in the changed security space," said the president. Nevertheless, Estonia needs to find effective countermeasures to hedge against possible new risks, Ilves added.
Tallinn newsroom, +372 610 8810, sise@bns.ee
