Honouring the past by looking with hope to the future

“You don’t need to know an awful lot about the past to understand that independence is something that’s really worth celebrating in Estonia,” said Berth Sundström, the director of the Estonian office of the Nordic Council of Ministers at a reception on 22 February organised in conjunction with the Nordic chambers of commerce operating in the country. The event – entitled ‘The First 93 Years: From East to North’ – was designed to mark the 93^rd anniversary of the Republic of Estonia.

2011 is a year of festivities for the Estonian office of the Nordic Council of Ministers, too, since we are marking our 20th anniversary of operations. Two decades ago, the governments of the five Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland – decided to set up joint representations in Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, all of which were moving towards independence.

Those events were recalled in the welcoming words given by Swedish ambassador to Estonia Mr. Jan Palmstierna and Danish ambassador to Estonia Mr. Uffe A. Balslev. Mr. Balslev, who was personally involved in events at the time, also penned an article for the Postimees newspaper on the topic on 20 January.

“Honouring the past, we are looking with hope to the future,” said the director of the Nordic Council of Ministers. “Whereas in the early years we were more of a helping hand, today Estonia and the Nordic countries are equal partners.”

This is also reflected in the office’s anniversary events. Throughout May we will be transforming Hopner House on Town Hall Square into the Nordic Design House as part of the Nordic Look event. In autumn we will be focussing on the environment and economical development. We will also be involved in a number of smaller undertakings, including the presentation of the book ‘Three Sagas from Nordic Mythology’.