Baltic politicians praise Yeltsin's legacy

  • 2007-04-25
  • From wire reports

FAREWELL MR. PRESIDENT: In the Baltics, Yeltsin will be fondly remembered as an ally in the struggle for independence and for facilitating the removal of Russian troops in the early 1990s.

TALLINN - Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin died in a Moscow hospital on April 23, at the age of 76. The Kremlin said heart failure was the cause of his death. In the Baltics, Yelstin will be remembered for his contribution to restoring independence. Baltic politicians were quick to praise Yeltsin.Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves said he was grateful for Yeltin's role in the nation's peaceful revolution in 1991, as well as for withdrawing Russian troops in 1994.

"President Yeltsin had a remarkable role in the crumbling of the Soviet Union and the totalitarian regime, as well as the birth of the new Russia, by which he contributed to democratic changes in Europe," Ilves said.
Ilves will travel to Moscow to attend the official funeral. Other Baltic officials will include former Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and former Lithuanian President and Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas.

"Boris Yelstin was a brave man with a large heart," wrote Adamkus in his letter of condolence. "His position accelerated Lithuania's march to freedom and contributed to the restoration of independence of all the Baltic states."
Added Adamkus, "It was a big honor for us to have such a friend and partner."
In the words of Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, with Yelstin's passing Europe has lost a "distinguished person" who showed characteristic bravery when it was most needed.
Yeltsin's suppression of the August 1991 coup, his recognition of the restoration of Estonian independence, and the fast withdrawal of Russian troops were to be remembered, former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar said.

"These are moments Estonia owes gratitude to Yeltsin for. To look back at it now, it all seems somehow natural and self-evident, but at the time it required a lot of personal courage and bravery to make such decisions," Laar said.
Marko Mihkelson, chairman of the European Union affairs committee in Estonia's Parliament, said the Yeltsin era was the most free and democratic period in Russia's long history.

He said political parties and the press had never before or since enjoyed such freedom as under Yeltsin.