The Finnish Institute in Estonia is an independent foundation. It represents society and receives support from public sources. Finland has been chosen as the happiest nation in the world for the past nine years. This is astonishing to us. We have started to think that perhaps we have done something right. But happiness is not the precise word. We are rather content and feel secure.
Estonians have the opportunity to go by ship to Helsinki and participate in Finnish life. There are also many things in Estonia that make us happy. For example, sauna and nature. Our fates have been different, but now we have started to understand each other more. Existential threats bring people together. We have helped each other in wars three times in history.
The histories of Estonia and Finland are different. We have grown from the same roots, but our ways of thinking are different. Finland has been influenced by Sweden, resulting in a welfare society. Estonia has had German influence. This has made our history special.
Unfortunately, we do not know each other's history well enough. We have had time to learn it, but we have focused on other things. Finns also do not know Estonian history well enough. They know that there was occupation and deportations in Estonia, but they do not fully understand what it means.
Finland and Estonia are now NATO members. This has added a sense of security, but Finland believes in its own defense capabilities. Our sense of security comes from our own national defense. NATO is just additional support. Finland has purchased new fighter jets, which shows our strength. But we also need to think about a shared future plan.
We have many common issues, from tourism to education. If we do not create a shared vision for the future, one might ask what we have to defend together. We need to work more together and understand each other better.