Shortly after the Estonian Parliament ratified the EU constitution, President Arnold Ruutel told a conference in Paide on May 9 that EU power must not become to centralized. "We must continually emphasize that the European Union will, in the future, remain a union of countries, not a federation," he said.
"Europe is so tightly bound to its nation state traditions and roots that go back for thousands of years that it will never become an evenly bubbling melting pot," he said, casting a distinction with the history of the U.S.A.
"It is also clear that ideas of a federal European Union are at present not so strong as for example five years ago," Ruutel said. "The reason for this lies of course in questions of which the public at large became more conscious especially after the referendums on the Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands."
Ruutel said other countries which have tired of totalitarian rule could become part of the EU integration process.
"In the focus of the Vilnius summit last week was a message to countries that have chosen the democratic path, encouraging them to carry on thorough necessary reforms to stay on this road," he said. "But the question whether the European Union has all the necessary mechanisms to implement the neighborhood policy as widely as needed in the rapidly changing conditions also arose rather sharply. This is a topic in whose treatment Estonia can and must have its say."
In another five years, Ruutel said the world not be simpler, but hopefully safer.
"Averting a new world war will probably be an objective of the European Union also five years from now," he said. "But maintaining the previous quality of life together while strengthening Europe's economic position in global competition will become an increasingly more important goal."
"Europe needs an Estonia which would promote the message of a united Europe and its values both at home and abroad," he said.
