PRESIDENT ILVES REACHES OUT TO RUSSIAN

UNCLAS TALLINN 001076 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM EN SUBJECT: PRESIDENT ILVES REACHES OUT TO RUSSIAN ESTONIANS IN IDA-VIRUMAA ¶1. (U) Summary. In an effort to reach out to Estonia's Russian-speaking minority, on November 14 Toomas Hendrik Ilves chose Ida-Virumaa as the destination of his first domestic trip as President. While there, he encouraged young ethnic Russians to participate actively in the political process, and highlighted the growing importance of Russian/Estonian trade relations. The trip received significant press coverage, but produced little editorial reaction. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Starting with his inaugural address, President Ilves has made a point of reaching out to Estonia's ethnic Russian residents. On November 14, Ilves notably chose Ida-Virumaa, a predominately ethnic Russian county in northeast Estonia, as the destination of his first domestic trip as President. Ethnic Russians make up about 85 percent of the population in Ida Virumaa. According to polls conducted immediately after the presidential election in October, "non-Estonians" are the one demographic group among whom Ilves does not have significant popular support. ¶3. (U) In Narva, Ida-Virumaa's largest town (population 67,000),President Ilves spoke to high school students at the Narva Humanitarian Gymnasium. He stressed to the students that they should not feel ashamed that Russian, not Estonian, is their native language - drawing a parallel with his own experience speaking Estonian while living in Sweden, Germany, and the United States. "Nevertheless," the President continued, "to achieve success in Estonia, one should learn the official language." Ilves noted that although ethnic Estonians are a minority in the region, 73 percent of residents under the age of 15 are Estonian citizens. The President called on these young citizens to be politically active, stating, "Your concerns are not concerns of the Russian government or the Russian president, but our concerns. We cannot [make] do without you." The President stressed that a small country like Estonia cannot afford to be indifferent towards any of its people. ¶4. (U) The growing importance of Estonian-Russian trade routes also garnered significant attention during Ilves' trip. County Governor Ago Silde presented Ilves with a sketch of a proposed new bridge across the Narva River that would connect Estonia and Russia and facilitate trade. Ilves also visited Sillamae Port to participate in a ceremony to mark the construction of a second mooring for tankers and cargo ships. Sillamae Port, the most eastern deep-sea port in the EU, was opened in 2005 and is used primarily by ships transporting cargo between Russia and the rest of Europe. Ilves noted that the need for a second mooring indicates the growing interest of Russian companies in Estonian port transit. ¶5. (U) Public reaction to the trip was generally positive. Ken Koort, the Ida-Virumaa representative for the Minister for Population and Ethnic Affairs, noted the warm welcome the President received. Estonia-wide Russian language newspapers Molodjezh Estonii and Postimees gave the trip front page coverage, although there was very little analysis of the significance of the trip or comment on the reaction of ethnic Russians. The local Ida-Virumaa newspaper Pohjarannik wrote, "We value Ilves' visit to the northeast highly, where he was able to bring home to all Russian speakers - without speaking Russian - that he considers all of them his compatriots...Neither of the previous presidents that spoke Russian had made the message to ethnic Russians so clear before." WOS