Remarks by Foreign Minister Ilves at the 75th Anniversary of Estonian-U.S Relations

Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, DC.


Seventy-five years ago today, on July 28, 1922, Estonia and the United States of America established diplomatic relations, which have been maintained continuously since then. The United States had previously opened consulates and unofficial representations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, but it was the US consul in Tallinn, Charles H. Albrecht, who informed the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ants Piip 75 years ago, of the US decision to recognize Estonia de jure. On the same day, the US representatives in Riga and Kaunas announced US recognition of Latvia and Lithuania.
It was a very different world then, though in many ways much closer to the picture of Europe that we see today, as opposed to the post-WWII world most of us grew up in. The early twenties of this century saw the emergence of what today we might call “Newly Independent States”. In addition to Estonia and the other two Baltic States these included Finland, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary. All of these countries emerged from the collapse of the 19th century imperial division of Europe. Sometimes it is useful to remind ourselves of this, especially since there is a tendency to prejudge countries based on the form of occupation they experienced after WW II.

I am personally happy, and I can unequivocally state that the Estonian people are grateful that U.S. foreign policy has unwaiveringly avoided this prejudice. For not only did the United States recognize Estonia seventy-five years ago, but just as importantly, the U.S. steadfastly refused to recognize the occupation and the forced annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union. This was no small legal nicety. U.S. non-recognition of the occupation of Estonia was the sine qua non for the same policy on the part of nearly all of the free world. It is recognized in the West that thanks to this policy Estonia is not a “newly independent state”. Thanks to this policy our legation continued its work unhindered throughout the dark period of occupation, and Ambassador Jaakson, who is here today, ranks as the longest serving diplomat acredited to the U.S. having been accredited to the the country in 1928 and serving continuously in various capacities to this day. Thanks to the non-recognition policy of the U.S., Estonian gold reserves were maintained at Fort Knox till the day in 1992, when they formed the basis of our currency reform, considered one of the most successful in this century, ranking with the German currency reform of Ludwig Erhardt in 1948.

Today, however, we are not here to talk about non-recognition but the Diamond Anniversary of the establishment of Estonian-U.S. relations. Each country sent each other its best diplomats. The U.S. sent one of its most promising young foreign service officers, George Kennan, to Tallinn. The Estonian diplomat, legal scholar and politician Ants Piip was later named the first ever Estonian Ambassador to the United States and presented his credentials to the President of the United States on December 31, 1923. Upon his return to Estonia he was re-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs. We can see here if not a trend, at least an element of legal continuity. Alas the fate of Ants Piip also symbolizes the fate of Estonia. In the 1930s Ants Piip returned to the U.S. where he was a scholar at the Brookings Institute and later Professor of International Law at UCLA. Piip returned to Estonia before it was occupied by the Soviets, who subsequently shot him.

After Estonia regained its independence in August 1991, Estonia and the United States re-established diplomatic ties. The long-time head of the New York consulate, Ernst Jaakson, was named Estonia's second Ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Jaakson, the longest-serving Estonian diplomat of all time, has now returned to the post of Consul General in New York.

The Estonian Embassy in Washington opened in 1993 and I had the honor become the first Estonian Ambassador in nearly 70 years to reside in Washington. Again, without the staunch and strong support of the United States in that period, Estonia would not have been able to accomplish one of its most important initial foreign policy objectives, the withdrawal of Russian troops from our territory.

Even more important has been the role of the U.S. embassy in Tallinn, which opened its doors in Tallinn on September 4, 1991 under the direction of the late Ambassador Robert C. Frasure. Ambassador Frasure, as I believe everyone here recognizes from his work in Estonia, as well as later in Bosnia was one of the outstanding American Foreign Service Officers of our era and we are proud to count him as one of the finest diplomats to have served in Estonia.

In recognition of his service Estonia established this year the Robert C. Frasure Scholarship Foundation was established to commemorate the memory of this great man. The Foundation will award a scholarship each year to an outstanding student of foreign affairs to study in the U.S.

Cooperation has been close in the sphere of security; the United States has been a steadfast supporter of Estonia's aspiration to join NATO. U.S. leadership at the Madrid Summit led to the strong affirmation and recognition of this policy in the final communique. In addition to U.S. leadership in multi-lateral security organisations, bilateral co-operation with the U.S. in the security and military areas have been crucial in the development of a modern, western armed forces.

The same close co-operation exists in the economic and business sphere. Already a leading investor in Estonia, U.S. will become, with the successful completion of the negotiations on privatization of the Estonia sector, the number one investor in my country.

At my annual speech to the Estonian parliament on December 5, 1996, I said, "The US remains one of Estonia's greatest and most steadfast friends in the world. The US's longtime unwavering resolute support for Estonia, which we keep in mind with thanks, has today become a friendly shoulder, on which we can support ourselves in good as well as in bad times." Today I can say that with 75 years of relations we can look forward only to even closer and even better ties.