President Rüütel wrote in his letter of condolences: "Aleksandr Nikolajevich Jakovlev was a person with great talent, who was able to touch the course of history and the life of millions of people with his work. He deserves great credit for facilitating the development of democracy both in Russia and in the world in general. In January this year at our last meeting in Moscow, he spoke about his voluminous work of studying and publishing archive documents about the 20th century history in Russia. Giving back to the people their true history is a noble undertaking, and present as well as future generations are certainly grateful to Aleksandr Nikolajevich for this.
For Estonia and for other Baltic states, the activities of Professor Jakovlev became especially significant in 1989, when largely thanks to his efforts the USSR Congress of People's Deputies adopted the resolution "The Political and Legal Evaluation of the 1939 Soviet-German Non-Aggression Treaty". His determination and readiness to treat the historical events frankly and in all their complexity was then and is today an example to us, to his contemporaries."
President Rüütel added that he would forever remember Professor Jakovlev with great gratitude.
Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, October 19, 2005
