Dear President Biden,
Dear Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank the United States and President Biden for hosting this timely discussion.
And as a leader of a relatively young democracy, I am proud to represent Estonia here today.
I witnessed my country´s road to a free and open society during my own journey of growing up. 30 years ago I was only a teenager when Estonia re-joined the family of independent and democratic countries.
I remember how we broke free from the authoritarian rule, regained personal freedoms and started to rebuild our democratic way of life.
We placed the rights of the individual at the center of our governance and worked hard to build a society that respects human rights, freedoms, and the rule of law.
There have been many friends and partners on this bumpy road who have supported and inspired us. The U.S has had a special role for us.
Estonia´s journey to liberal democracy took place hand in hand with digital transformation – we learned how digital technologies can support democratic change and enforce transparent and accountable governance.
Now we are well positioned to promote open, free and inclusive societies at international level and advocate for secure digital governance that everybody can trust:
For that purpose we are committed to work at the global, regional and local levels.
We have a common interest in ensuring that democracy delivers and technology improves our lives. For that we need democracies to set the rules of the game and work for safe and accessible global digital infrastructure.
At the United Nations, it is important that we work together to shape the processes that determine the future of cyberspace and internet governance. We need to ensure the continuity of the multi-stakeholder model of the Internet and safeguard human rights and fundamental freedoms online. A key element will be empowering more nations to guide their digital future in a way where free, open and secure Internet will help to achieve social and economic progress.
Digital public goods need to be widely available – this is why Estonia, together with its partners, launched GovStack initiative. This encourages more governments to take ownership of their digital futures and build effective and cost-efficient government services. Estonia also introduced Trusted Connectivity framework to unite and amplify connectivity initiatives of democratic countries. We will be glad to welcome all of you to the 5th Tallinn Digital Summit in the autumn of 2022 to take this agenda forward.
Free media is the lifeline of democracy. That is why we will organize the next Global Conference on Media Freedom in Tallinn in the upcoming February.
Estonia, as a founding member of the Freedom Online Coalition continues to promote and protect an open, free, and secure internet and oppose internet shutdowns. We are determined to scale up our efforts and increase our financial support to this Coalition.
The NGOs have a leading role in promoting democracy and we are committed to supporting their work. We will increase funding to the Lifeline Embattled Civil Society Organization Assistance Fund and contribute to International Fund for Public Interest Media as well as to Global Media Defense Fund of UNESCO.
Finally, we will also take steps to improve inclusive society at home. Recently we approved the 4th consecutive Cohesive Estonia Development Plan. Next, my government will suggest new amendments to the Equal Treatment Act to ensure better protection from discrimination.
Dear colleagues,
Let us support one another and use our combined influence to bolster our democracies. I hope we will make 2022 a year of joint action and wish us all the success in accomplishing it.
Thank you!
