The Defence League’s Victory Day parade and our traditional St. John’s Day celebrations intersect in the straight formation here on St. Peter’s Square. The torches we send forth to our counties today, therefore, symbolize much more than Estonia’s victory in a single battle or war. They represent every struggle for freedom and every victory that our nation has achieved.
It is also why I am especially pleased to greet this year’s Defence League parade in Narva, on the threshold of Europe and the Free World. Nowhere else in Europe is the line between freedom and oppression, between openness and isolationism, between peace and war, so clearly discernible as it is here at the Narva River.
You and I stand on the right side of the river; the contrast with Russia is plain to see. There are no different shades here. Narva is not a grey zone; Narva is blue, black, and white. More and more, have encountered youthfulness, creativity, and openness in this city. It spreads and captivates. It makes Narva, Narva.
That is why we have gathered to celebrate our victories and freedoms here in this city again.
The last time the Victory Day parade was held in Narva was 28 years ago. Much has changed since then, but there are also things around us that have stayed the same and will not change. Even at that time, Russia was using covert and hybrid warfare to attempt to disrupt the internal stability and development of countries that had restored their independence, including Estonia. Now, it is engaged in those activities all across Europe.
The desire of Russia’s leaders to subjugate neighbouring peoples by military means if necessary is also an unceasing tendency. The most aggressive of these wars is currently underway in Ukraine, in an effort to destroy Ukrainians’ state, freedom, and self-determination. Russia cannot win that war, and it will not win that war.
We here in the Western world must keep in mind that militaristic dictators do not stop, but intend to press further and further. We must also remember Lennart Meri’s warning from the last Narva parade in 1996. He said there are areas in life where compromise is not a rational agreement, but a retreat that compounds in forced further retreat. And after retreating once, you retreat all the way to an abyss that separates us from a new global catastrophe.
His words are just as profound and relevant today as they were then.
In nearly thirty years, your ranks, voluntary in nature, have nearly tripled, and now almost surpass 30,000. What could be a truer demonstration of the Defence League’s importance and Estonians’ free will to defend? And the Defence League is growing ever more innovative. One small but illustrative example is the Türi company organizing a course on building and flying drones in cooperation with the Tallinn University of Technology.
In 1996, the members of the Defence League marched here on St. Peter’s Square alone. Today, you are accompanied by ten Allied countries. They are allies with whom we just drew up all-encompassing NATO defence plans to repel a possible Russian attack. With these Allies, we are engaged in constructing common deterrence and defence, together with the necessary arms and forces, on a daily basis. It’s also worth noting that Estonia hosts a permanent presence of battlegroups from three of NATO’s nuclear members: the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.
That is why I also disagree with the opinion that a gap in capability might cause us to fall back to the year 1939, when we were totally alone and lost our independence. Estonia is a NATO member today and in perpetuity. The Alliance is militarily, politically, and economically unmatched by any enemy. And Estonia’s NATO membership means that we are now opposing evil jointly.
Take a look at the weaponry and battle equipment in formation here in Narva today. Estonia’s own weaponry increasingly matches that of our Allies in terms of capability. We possess arms and ammunition that can, if necessary, be used to shatter enemy forces in their own rear. Weapons with which we will hold them there.
Of course, this all carries a steep price tag that our people have paid and will continue paying, channeling several percentage points of national wealth into defence. It is our shared contribution towards defending Estonia’s freedom.
The assessment that we require an additional amount totaling more than a billion euros for acquiring ammunition cannot be ignored. Especially when that need stems from NATO defence plans.
Would it be right for the state to borrow? Or to emit eurobonds? It is a matter of acquiring greater defence capabilities and increasing our arsenal in order to guarantee Estonia’s security. In doing so, we will boost confidence within our country and in the eyes of foreign investors. Fear and uncertainty cost more than a four- or five-percent GDP increase in government debt.
But let us also ask: do additional defence capabilities furthermore require temporary tax-policy decisions, be they for a period of five years, ten, or as long as the security situation demands? The greater part of growing defence expenditures must be covered by stable tax revenue. By ensuring this, our national budgetary policy will be lasting and will leave us the opportunity to make unexpected one-time investments in the future as well.
Is the taxpayer prepared to make this new sacrifice in the name of our security? It must be discussed publicly; explained calmly and without bickering. When the state’s goal is clear, then people will understand it.
An investment into defence capabilities is an investment into a peaceful future. It shouldn’t overly depend on how well we’re doing at any given moment or in what direction the political winds are blowing. Better defence capabilities serve us all, so let us make these crucial decisions now.
The Estonian Constitution obliges, in its hallowed rigidity, every citizen of Estonia to defend our country. But it equally grants each of us the right and freedom to do so. Our strength can be gauged directly by the number of citizens who voluntarily take part in national defence, both in a narrower and broader sense. Each of us has an idea or a skill that can be used to make Estonia even stronger, more resilient, and more courageous.
The Estonian Defence League along with the Women’s Voluntary Defence Organization and the Home Daughters and Young Eagles youth associations are the most straightforward example. But just as important in this role are the assistant police officers, voluntary rescue workers and bomb squads, reservists and the workers who support them, housing cooperatives that participate in public defence, crisis-ready local self-governments, supporters of veterans, students, and defence innovators. Not to mention the mothers and fathers who place our tricolour flag in their children’s hands and hearts. You are all defenders of Estonia. You bind our society into a unified whole. It is the bedrock of our nation’s confidence and morale.
Dear members of the Estonian Defence League.
Today, I give to you our torch of victory so that in every country, it may once again serve as a bright symbol of the will to defend nestled deep within our nature. May it carry the message that Estonia will never break. That we, together with our Allies, will defend our freedom equally in Tallinn and on the islands, in Värska and Vastseliina, in Narva and Vasknarva. That we will also defend it in Ukraine and, if necessary, at even greater distances. Thus, our torch of victory may be one for all who defend and strive for freedom.
I wish you a fine Victory Day and a wonderful St. John’s Eve!
Long live the Estonian Defence League! Long live free Estonia!
