Lennart Meri - Political Activity

Political Activity

After more than twenty years of refusals, the Soviet administration finally gave permission for Lennart Meri to travel beyond the Iron Curtain in the late 1970s, and Meri persistently used the opportunities open to him in Finland to remind the free world of the existence of Estonia. He established close relationships with politicians, journalists and Estonians who had fled from the occupation. He was the first Estonian to publicize abroad the protests against the Soviet plan of mining phosphorite in Estonia (known as the Phosphorite War), which would have rendered a third of the country uninhabitable.

In Estonia, environmental protests soon grew into a general revolt against Soviet rule: "the Singing Revolution", which was led by Estonian intellectuals. Lennart Meri’s speech Do Estonians Have Hope focused on the existential problems of the nation and had strong repercussions abroad. In 1988, Meri became a founding member of the Estonian Popular Front, which cooperated with its counterparts in Latvia and Lithuania. After the first non-communist-style multi-party election in 1990, Meri was appointed to the post of Foreign Minister. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lennart Meri’s first task was to create the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He developed around him a group of well educated young people, many English speaking, in order to establish an open communication channel to the West, and at the same time to represent Estonia more widely on the international scene. He participated in the CSCE Conferences in Copenhagen, New York, Paris, Berlin and Moscow, and the foundation conference of the Council of the Baltic Sea Countries. He also had several meetings with American and European Heads of State and Foreign Ministers, and was the first Eastern European guest to give a presentation at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

In 1992, Lennart Meri, together with 9 Baltic Ministers of Foreign Affairs and an EU commissioner, founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EuroFaculty.

After a brief period as Ambassador of Estonia to Finland, on 6 October 1992 he became the 2nd President of the Republic of Estonia. Meri was the candidate of the Isamaaliit "Pro Patria" Alliance. Although, on the first ballot, Arnold Rüütel, a former leading communist and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR, had led with 42 per cent of the total vote, the final choice for the nomination was made by Parliament, the Riigikogu, which was dominated by the Pro Patria Alliance. During the campaign, the nationalist right tried to bring up questions about Meri's alleged former links with the KGB. However, these allegations did not harm Meri's reputation and public image. Lennart Meri was sworn in as the President on 6 October 1992. On 20 September 1996, he was re-elected for a second and final term.

In 1994, the Estonian Newspaper Association declared Meri the Year's Press Enemy. This was the first time this award was given; since that, it has been a yearly occurrence. Interestingly, in 1998, Meri was given the complementary award and titled the Year's Press Friend. In 1999, Meri was once again given the Year's Press Enemy award.

He was a member of Club of Madrid.