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Independence Day Speech by Tunne Kelam 1989

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Independence Day Speech by Tunne Kelam 1989 INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH BY TUNNE KELAM 1989 This speech, calling for registration of Estonian citizens and the formation of a Congress of Estonia, was given by Tunne Kelam, member of the board of the Estonian National Independence Party and Chairman of the Citizens' Committees General Organizing Committee, at ceremonies commemorating the 71st anniversary of Estonian independence on 24 February 1989. The event was sponsored jointly by the Estonian Heritage Society and the Estonian National Independence Party in the concert hall "Estonia" theater. Independence Day Speech Tunne Kelam Dear compatriots, honored guests! Speaking for the Estonian National Independence Party, I am happy to announce that at its session of February 21st, the executive council of the E.N.I.P. approved a declaration analogous to the one just presented by the Estonian Heritage Society. We already know that the Estonian Christian Union joined with it on February 22nd. This signifies a unified platform of action by the Estonian Heritage Society, the Estonian National Independence Party and the Estonian Christian Union, enabling us to prepare for the formation of a real and true popular representative body, by first initiating an investigation to ascertain those individuals having the legal and moral right presently to participate in determining the future of Estonia. I call on all other independent organizations and individuals in Estonia to join this program and to embark on a road of true initiative, a road the people have truly chosen, a road that will take us toward true independence. The history of the observation of February 24 in occupied Estonia has proven the indispensability of such special days. Some deep inner principle has drawn our young people to celebrate the anniversaries of Estonian independence, despite risks and persecution. It has drawn them to (partisan) Kuperjanov's grave, and to the graves of soldiers from the War of Independence to raise the blue-black-and-white flags; disregarding the fact that the usual consequences of these actions were expulsion from school, interrogation by the K.G.B. and imprisonment. Now the situation has changed, but changed thanks to whom? A year ago, when the founders of the E.N.I.P. and the members of MRP-AEG (Estonian Group for the Disclosure of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact) approached the Tallinn City Executive Committee for permission to celebrate Estonian Independence Day, a Committee representative replied: "That does not represent the interests of the Estonian people; the Estonian people do not need such a celebration." And yet, the Estonian people knew what they needed better that the colonial officials did. Our history over the last few years has not been made at official celebrations filled with prominent figures. History has been made with the anti-phosphorite-mining demonstrations and the 1987 rally at Hirve Park; history was made in 1988 around the Tammsaare monument and across from the Supreme Court building, where people demanded rights for political prisoners; history was made with the spontaneous, seemingly purposeless demonstrations of autumn 1980. (A 15-year-old boy on his way to another rally, asked by his mother if it was really necessary for him to go, replied: "But someone has to go. And mother, you won't"). History was made with the Baltic appeal signed by 15 www.singingrevolution.com 1 representatives of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in 1979, which in 1983 became a direct impetus for the first resolution of the European Parliament on the situation in the Baltic states; history was made by Mart Niklus, Enn Tarto and many other prisoners of conscience with their heroic opposition to the suppressors of their freedom and dignity; it was made with the campaigns of the finest Estonian intellectuals against injustice and censorship. And history has been made by the sufferings and violent deaths of tens of thousands of deported and arrested people. The seeming waste of the vitality of the countless victims of this occupation has not been in vain. It has become concentrated into a powerful sacrifice of salvation, helping to steer our destiny in a better direction, helping us to make it to the "Estonia" assembly hall today. Our present has been centered around one single theme – how to restore our national and political independence. The Estonian National Independence Party considers this its primary duty. The activities of the E.N.I.P. are based on the firm conviction that the Estonian people have sufficient political maturity for independence and they do not need guardians from either East or West; that national independence is the only way to help our people rise out of colonial dependence and to insure our political, economic and cultural sovereignty. National independence is the basis and precondition for all normal and genuine development – it is the only way for us. The events of the past year have set us on this path. However, in order to reach our goals, superficial changes are insufficient although necessary, and at least they've been made possible. We will not improve our situation if we do not overcome our fear and do not work against the basic foundation onto which the local colonialist system is built. The most central stones of this foundation are the occupation forces and their military bases, which must be removed from Estonian soil because they are illegal and because they endanger the free expression of the will of the Estonian people. The Estonian people will endure only within a neutral independent state outside any military bloc. We cannot speak of free expression until the main tool of the monopolistic one-party dictatorship and Moscow-directed colonialism – the Committee for State Security - is eliminated and its activities are disclosed. Otherwise, democratization will be nothing more than a worthless, hollow phrase. It is not possible to make true progress down the road of democratization if we do not make the transition to a multi-party system, to political pluralism. Above all, this presumes the retreat of the Communist Party to an equal footing with other social forces, because then and only then can we speak of free popular expression, democratic elections and a lawful government. The often-used official excuse, which alleges the tradition of a one-party system in the Soviet Union, is actually nothing more than a tradition of extreme abuse of power and force. Such a "tradition" must be abolished. Only the restoration of Estonian independence can restore her people's feelings of self worth and security, and return her to her legal place in the family of European nations. Consequently, the release of individual political prisoners is not enough – the Eastern European peoples taken hostage by Moscow must be freed as well. Based on what I've said, let us ask: Has anything happened to indicate real changes in the character of this occupation regime, to indicate changes that might lead to fulfillment of our demands? No, quite the opposite. By all indications, the energies of the Communist Party are geared above all to surviving the crisis in a way which would allow it to retain its power monopoly. Our current situation brings to mind a thief who has beaten us half to death and stripped us bare of everything valuable. www.singingrevolution.com 2 In the light of historical truth, which awakens unexpectedly after being presumed dead, the thief is now exposed and feeling naked. He retreats, and flees, leaving behind those stolen items which are of least value to him. He has relinquished to us our national flag, anthem, coat of arms, language, freedom of assembly and of speech, and several other things. But have these things been returned with sincere regret? Quite the opposite. They've been yielded in the hope that when we stop to admire the things returned to us, we'll forget to demand the return of the most important item – the independence of our state. And if we do hesitate, the thief will gain enough headway to escape and regroup. It doesn't end there. The thief, having recovered, comes around again. To cover up his nakedness, he carries out a second usurpation, raising up and monopolizing the symbols of the Republic of Estonia that he once trampled underfoot, thus giving his retention of power a nationalistic camouflage. We must not forget that the blue-black-and-white color combination could have a dual significance: a blue-eyed faith in the readiness of the Kremlin to understand Estonia's problems, a black conscience squeezed between the covers of a Party card, and white areas or blanks in logical thinking. Representatives of the C.P.E. on the Central Committee level have claimed that the E.N.I.P. and the Interfront are united in their opposition to raising the Estonian national flag over Pikk Hermann tower. The position of the E.N.I.P. – like that of other nationalist organizations – on this issue is due to the seriousness with which we regard national symbols. We feel that national symbols should not be objects of political manipulation, especially by institutions that mocked these symbols and brutally persecuted their users just a few years ago. The raising of our national flag in the spot traditionally reserved for the state flag gives an erroneous picture of the changes that have taken place by deepening the illusion that independence has almost been restored – at the initiative of those who originally occupied the Republic of Estonia. The ulterior motive of such a move is not only to lull and restrain the Estonian people's serious attempts to regain independence, but in a broader perspective, to convince Western states to withdraw their non-recognition of the annexation of the Baltic states, and thus to achieve the West's legal recognition of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians as members of the U.S.S.R.
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