Elagu Eesti!

Something remarkable happened today that I have been hoping for a long time. The Baltic States joined NATO. When I worked for the President of Estonia, the little country that could, this was our primary foreign policy goal. They had already extended an unwritten security guarantee, but being covered by Article 5 of the NATO charter, mutual defense in case of attack, was essential to preventing what happened last time Estonia had independence -- losing it. NATO itself has taken perhaps the greatest move to fulfilling its mission of creating "foundations for a stable security environment in Europe … in which no country would be able to intimidate or coerce any European nation or to impose hegemony through the threat or use of force."

Integrated security is more than defense, it is infrastructure for cultural identity, sovereignty and a place in the world.

Back in 1996 it was but a dream we longed to live. At the time, the President said:

We often speak of NATO's enlarging or expanding, as though the Alliance were some sort of exotic, and, to the Russia leadership, a somewhat contagious ameba. I would point out one does not join NATO, one is asked to become a member. Unlike Groucho Marx, I believe that this is a club I would like to join, even though it has doubts about having my state as a member.

Welcome to the club. Tonight my family will talk of times where we helped fight to secure independence and will raise a glass in praise to the little country that did. Elagu Eesti, Long Live Estonia.