According to President Rüütel, he had in the last days been delighted to notice that Estonia had many like-minded countries in the world. "The topics such as fighting terrorism, preventing the spread of AIDS, environmental conservation and the like are problems not only of Estonia or the United States. These are the key issues of the 21st century to be disentangled by all nations together," the President of the Republic said.
President Rüütel at the reception handed over Estonian state decorations to these local people who had been honoured on the occasion of the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia but this year, as yet, had not been able to visit Estonia.
President Rüütel assured that he appreciated very highly the order recipients respect and what they had done for Estonia.
Office of the President
New York, September 25, 2003
