From today, anyone can wish Estonia well on the president's birthday card. As this is the Cultural Diversity Year, representatives of various national communities followed the lead of the presidential couple Alar and Sirje Karis in wishing the country happiness.
To celebrate the anniversary of the Republic of Estonia, the Office of the President set up a large birthday card in front of the presidential palace, on which all residents of Estonia can write their well wishes to the state.
The first congratulatory wishes were written by the presidential couple Alar and Sirje Karis, after which it was the turn of the students of the Kadrioru Saksa Gümnaasium and the representatives of national communities living in Estonia. Representatives of the Ukrainian, Latvian, Ersa, Mari, Tatar, Moksha, Chuvash, Lesgin, Buryat, Kazakh, Korean and Moroccan communities operating as part of the Estonian Union of National Minorities and the International Union of Associations of National Cultures ”Lyra”, wrote “Congratulations, Estonia!” on the birthday card in their native languages. Representatives of Estonian communities from the Estonian Folk Culture Centre also wrote their wishes on the card. Representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Integration Foundation joined these communities.
“Estonia is home to 216 different peoples. Observing our country's important days is a good opportunity to bring us all together. We look forward to congratulating all the communities of Estonians and other communities living in Estonia in their dialects and mother tongues on the Facebook account of the Cultural Diversity Year – let us wish our country well together,” said Dmitri Moskovtsev, head of the Integration Foundation, which organises the Cultural Diversity Year.
The Cultural Diversity Year is dedicated to the cultural richness of the national communities living in Estonia. In the calendar www.kultuuririkkus.ee, you will find events that help us to notice, appreciate and cherish the cultural richness that unites us. Among the events, there are several opportunities to celebrate Estonia's birthday together, from the president's birthday card to a communal singing of the national anthem.
Photos (Raul Mee): https://photos.app.goo.gl/Zk7rKnUg6mDTNLBv5. In pictures are Estonian Latvian, Ersa, Mari, Tatar, Moksha, Chuvash, Lesgin, Buryat, Kazakh, Korean and Moroccan community representatives from the Estonian Folk Culture Centre, the Estonian Union of National Minorities and the International Union of Associations of National Cultures, Eda Silberg (Undersecretary for Cultural Diversity at the Ministry of Culture), Dmitri Moskovtsev (Head of the Integration Foundation), Eero Raun (Project Manager of the Cultural Diversity Year) and students of the Kadrioru Saksa Gümnaasium.
