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From the White House: President Obama Addresses the People of Estonia

At the Nordea Concert Hall in Tallinn, Estonia today, President Obama spoke to students, young professionals, and civic leaders about the enduring strength and promise of democracy. “I am honored to be the first President of the United States to deliver an address like this to the people of Estonia,” he said.

We’re stronger because we’re democracies.  We’re not afraid of free and fair elections, because true legitimacy can only come from one source — and that is the people. We’re not afraid of an independent judiciary, because no one is above the law.  We’re not afraid of a free press or vibrant debate or a strong civil society, because leaders must be held accountable. We’re not afraid to let our young people go online to learn and discover and organize, because we know that countries are more successful when citizens are free to think for themselves.

Transcript

Selected quotes:

[Your] dream of freedom endured through centuries of occupation and oppression.  It blossomed into independence, only to have it stolen by foreign pacts and secret protocols.  It survived the mass deportations that ripped parents from their children.  It was defended by Forest Brothers in their resistance and sustained by poets and authors who kept alive your languages and cultures.  And here in Estonia, it was a dream that found its most eloquent expression in your voices — on a grassy field not far from here, when Estonians found the courage to stand up against an empire and sing “land of my fathers, land that I love.”  And Heinz Valk, who is here today, spoke for the entire Singing Revolution when he said, “One day, no matter what, we will win!”  (Applause.)  

Today, people working to build their own democracies — from Kyiv to Tunis — look to you for inspiration.  Your experience cautions that progress is neither easy nor quick.   Here in the Baltics, after decades of authoritarian rule, the habits of democracy had to be learned.  The institutions of good governance had to be built.  Economies had to be reformed.  Foreign forces had to be removed from your territory.

And transitions of this magnitude are daunting for any nation.  But the Baltics show the world what’s possible when free peoples come together for the change that they seek.  And in that great contest of ideas — between freedom and authoritarianism, between liberty and oppression — your success proves, like that human chain 25 years ago, that our way will always be stronger.

We’re stronger because we’re democracies.  We’re not afraid of free and fair elections, because true legitimacy can only come from one source — and that is the people.  We’re not afraid of an independent judiciary, because no one is above the law.  We’re not afraid of a free press or vibrant debate or a strong civil society, because leaders must be held accountable.  We’re not afraid to let our young people go online to learn and discover and organize, because we know that countries are more successful when citizens are free to think for themselves.

We’re stronger because we embrace open economies.  Look at the evidence.  Here in Estonia, we see the success of free markets, integration with Europe, taking on tough reforms.  You’ve become one of the most wired countries on Earth — a global leader in e-government and high-tech start-ups.  The entrepreneurial spirit of the Estonian people has been unleashed, and your innovations, like Skype, are transforming the world.

And we’re stronger because we stand together.  This year we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Baltics in NATO.  A decade ago, skeptics wondered whether your countries were up to the task.  And today, they need only look at our training exercises, where our troops grow even stronger together, shoulder to shoulder.  They can look at Afghanistan, where our forces have sacrificed together to keep us safe — and where, in just three months, the largest operation in NATO history will come to an end, as planned.  There’s no doubt the Baltics have made our alliance stronger.

… as we gather here today, we know that this vision is threatened by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.  It is a brazen assault on the territorial integrity of Ukraine — a sovereign and independent European nation.  It challenges that most basic of principles of our international system — that borders cannot be redrawn at the barrel of a gun; that nations have the right to determine their own future.  It undermines an international order where the rights of peoples and nations are upheld and can’t simply be taken away by brute force.  This is what’s at stake in Ukraine.  This is why we stand with the people of Ukraine today.  (Applause.)

As a result of state-run propaganda, many Russians have become convinced that the actions taken by their government is strengthening Russia.  But reaching back to the days of the tsars — trying to reclaim lands “lost” in the 19th century — is surely not the way to secure Russia’s greatness in the 21st century.  (Applause.)  It only shows that unrestrained nationalism is the last refuge of those who cannot or will not deliver real progress and opportunity for their own people at home.

Let’s also be clear where we stand.  Just as we refused to accept smaller European nations being dominated by bigger neighbors in the last century, we reject any talk of spheres of influence today.  (Applause.)  And just as we never accepted the occupation and illegal annexation of the Baltic nations, we will not accept Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea or any part of Ukraine.  (Applause.)  

So this is a moment of testing.  The actions of the separatists in Ukraine and Russia evoke dark tactics from Europe’s past that ought to be consigned to a distant history. Masked men storming buildings.  Soldiers without flags slipping across the border.  Violence sending families fleeing and killing thousands, including nearly 300 innocent men, women and children from all across Europe and around the world when that airliner was shot out of the sky.  In the face of violence that seems intractable and suffering that is so senseless, it is easy to grow cynical, and I think tempting to give in to the notion that peace and security may be beyond our grasp.

But I say to all of you here today, especially the young people, do not give into that cynicism.  Do not lose the idealism and optimism that is the root of all great change.  (Applause.)  Don’t ever lose the faith that says, if we want it, if we are willing to work for it, if we stand together, the future can be different; tomorrow can be better.  After all, the only reason we’re here today in a free and democratic Estonia is because the Estonian people never gave up.

… freedom will win — not because it’s inevitable, not because it is ordained, but because these basic human yearnings for dignity and justice and democracy do not go away.  They can be suppressed.  At times, they can be silenced, but they burn in every human heart in a place where no regime could ever reach, a light that no army can ever extinguish.  And so long as free peoples summon the confidence and the courage and the will to defend the values that we cherish, then freedom will always be stronger and our ideas will always prevail no matter what.