The Dalai Lama presented Laar with a white Buddhist scarf as a sign of friendship. The two talked tet-a-tet in the office of Toomas Savi, the parliamentary speaker.
Tunne Kelam, deputy speaker of the Parliament, also met the Dalai Lama on June 20 and had an official dinner with the leader of free Tibet.
Only at the last moment, after the Dalai Lama arrived at Tallinn Airport at noon June 19, did the Estonian government decide to provide him with bodyguards, a limousine and a police escort; all of the units came from governmental reserves.
The Dalai Lama raised eyebrows when he announced at a press conference after the meeting with Laar that he was a complete socialist, adding that he has always been ready to negotiate with Chinese officials on certain conditions, namely keeping the language and national culture of Chinese-occupied Tibet.
"I have always been half a Marxist," said the Dalai Lama. "Of course, Marxism as an ideology has some negative features. Communist governments are always totalitarian, and I don't like that."
Unlike his Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts, Estonian President Lennart Meri chose not to meet with the Dalai Lama. The opposition Center Party, meanwhile, criticized Laar for putting relations with China at risk.
"It is true that not every country head wants to meet me. But I do not want anyone to feel uncomfortable about that. I prefer meeting with the people. Governments are elected, the people stay."
The Dalai Lama met the people at the Town Hall Square on the evening of June 19 and attended a public prayer at Niguliste Church the next day. On June 20 he held a public lecture at Tartu University, and went to Riga the following day.
Laar, in an online conference held on June 25, commenting on the probable reaction of anti-Tibet Chinese officials, said, "China still recognizes Estonia after my meeting with the Dalai Lama."
Laar added that he hoped the problem of Tibet would be resolved soon.
A group of Tartu artists and DJs symbolically burnt a Chinese flag as a sign of protest at a party in support of Tibet on June 22. The artists poured red paint on a white sheet and then burned the cloth.
"White symbolizes the innocence of Tibet and the red color, blood," Meelis, a 20-year-old artist from Tartu told the Baltic News Service.
He admitted that the organizers' intention from the start had been to burn a symbolic rather than an actual flag. However, no mention of this was made in the press release, so as to attract more public attention.
"My apologies to the Chinese who may have been offended, but nevertheless China's current policy with regard to Tibet must not be allowed to continue," Meelis said.
The organizers announced that the aim of the party was to condemn China's dictatorial policy and Estonia's puppet-like policy vis-a-vis China.
Police in Tartu warned the organizers in advance that dishonoring the flag of a foreign country was a criminal offense.
The roughly 1,000 kroons ($55) collected at the party will be donated to Tibetan children, the organizers said. The participants also signed a petition for the release of fighters for Tibet's independence imprisoned in China.
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