Some personal vignettes of newly restored independence
Even on the short flight from Riga to Tallinn we celebrated with champagne on entering Estonian air space. On the morning of September 4, 1991, greeting us on the tarmac of Tallinn Airport (years later to be renamed Lennart Meri International Airport) were Estonian Foreign Minister Lennart Mari and Economics Minister Jaak Leimann, with their senior staff.
In contrast with our arrivals in Vilnius and Riga, neither KGB Border Guards interference or harassment from possible renegade Black Beret units plagued this reception. Although the schedules of meetings at various ministries and other establishments were similar in all three countries, the Estonian visit had a distinctly different flavour. Some observations:
In Lithuania and Latvia we met with the prime ministers, In Tallinn, Edgar Savisaar wasn’t on the schedule, because, someone said, he was out of town.
In contrast with Latvia and Lithuania, practically all Estonian officials hosting meetings at different locations were perfectly fluent in English, except for the noticeable exception of Arnold Rüütel, the Estonian signatory of the restoration of diplomatic accords.
Of the few industries we visited, the most memorable enterprise manufactured a popular brand of skates for a Canadian marketer, whose inventory mostly came from Estonia
(Pikemalt saab lugeda Eesti Elu 27. augusti 2021 paber- ja PDF/Digilehest)
