Speeches
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves on Mother’s Day 12 May 2013 at the Estonia Concert Hall
Fellow countrymen,
Mothers and grandmothers,
Today is the day we – brothers and sisters, fathers and husbands – declare our love and gratitude for you!
We show our respect for the selfless and never-ending warmth and care amidst which we were born, have grown up and lived.
We say thank you, we congratulate you and wish you good health!
At the same time, Mother's Day is the day when all of us as children, husbands and fathers, citizens and state representatives should think of the true meaning of being a mother – the loving, caring and fostering all human beings need from the cradle to the grave.
Maternal nature is about caring for everything that makes life humanely profound and meaningful. This has been given to each mother by nature and is thus genuine. But it is also written in law.
Fellow countrymen,
In the last few weeks we have actively debated a rather sensitive subject in Estonia. We have been talking about those people for whom being a mother and a child has become an economic, physical and foremost mental burden.
We are talking about taking care of our loved ones. We are talking about those families where pain and worry exist alongside joy, where caring for a sick child or old mother or father becomes a full-time job – a job without pay.
This subject is so painful and so important that we must talk about it honestly. We must say how things are.
By doing so we see how discussions are full of traditions, about how it has been customary for Estonian families to act in different times. And also the changes in family models, economic opportunities and options offered by a free society.
12.05.2013
Latest speeches
- 22.04.2013 President Toomas Hendrik Ilves at a meeting with the Estonian Defence Forces infantry company Estcoy-16, which is heading to Afghanistan 22 April 2013, Paldiski
- 18.04.2013 President Ilves lauds the awardee of the Czech and Slovak Transatlantic Award Jan Krzysztof Bielecki at the Globsec Gala dinner in Bratislava, 18 April 2013
- 17.04.2013 President Ilves's laudatio to Admiral James Stavridis in Kadriorg, 17 April 2013
- 09.04.2013 The political statement of President Toomas Hendrik Ilves at the Riigikogu, 9 April 2013
News
In pictures: President Ilves discussed cyber defence at the House of Commons
Today, at the invitation of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, President Ilves visited the House of Commons of the British Parliament, where he gave a presentation to Members of Parliament, policy makers and opinion leaders about cyber defence and more broadly about the challenges a country must face in the 21st century. At the parliament, the discussion was headed by one of the best-known experts in cyber security and security policy, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones.
21.05.2013
President Ilves at an influential Google conference: IT solutions made Estonia great
"Decisions made shortly after regaining independence, such as computer classes in schools and ensuring free internet all over the country, along with functioning IT solutions and e-services, have made Estonia greater beyond its geographical borders," President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said today at the Google conference Zeitgeist 2013.
20.05.2013
President Ilves at ‘Spring Storm’: our conscripts are good students and our officers are good teachers
"I am proud of our conscripts who have been good students and our officers who have been good teachers to them," President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said while visiting the 'Spring Storm' major military exercise of the Defence Forces.
17.05.2013
