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Last autumn, journalist Peeter Ernits started writing a book on Arnold Rüütel and contemporary Estonian history. Numerous statesmen, generals, ambassadors and government ministers from those times will also have a say in its pages. The work will be published next autumn.
Postimees here presents an interview with author.
Whence the idea to write a book on Arnold Rüütel?
There are lots of interesting people in various fields with things to tell and lives to share. Little is written about such decision makers. They are modest, lacking the ego necessary to go around lecturing about themselves. But if half of those who participate in an event remain silent and the other half talkative, only the latter ones’ version will be remembered.
I regret that Vaino Väljas remains tight-lipped and Ülo Nugis left us in silence. Edgar Savisaar writes and speaks, but not about everything. Mart Laar’s words have become a history textbook.
The younger generation has gained the impression that Estonia’s recent history commenced in 1992, with only Red rule and occupation before then. However, in between there was a really hard time of transition. Little is written about what actually transpired in that grey zone.
Jüri Raidla, then Minister of Justice and now a lawyer, has said that the Soviet Union was crushed by two wars – Ronald Reagan’s star wars and the war of laws. The latter was waged in Kadriorg, with Arnold Rüütel behind it. Little is talked about that.
What do you mean by war of laws?
During Perestroika, work started on a new Soviet constitution. It was finalised, and sent to the Soviet republics for ratification. Estonia, however, returned the document to Moscow and said they could ratify their law in Moscow, but it would enter into force in the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic only if registered by the Presidium of our Supreme Council, and that we would base its ratification on international law. And there was nothing Moscow could do about it – at the time, the Supreme Council was headed by Arnold Rüütel.
How did you talk Mr Rüütel into doing the book?
Mr Rüütel resisted for a long time, till last autumn. Then, however, the wheels started turning, with endless conversations happening into the early hours. Why he changed his mind, I cannot say for sure.
During the conversations, I discovered another Arnold Rüütel. Not the one known for the lengthy, drawn-out sentences and called a communist by opponents. Rather, a person sitting up till late at night, talkative, alert and active. Cracking jokes, using swear words.
But Mr Rüütel did belong to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
In a small State like Estonia, we can’t keep hammering on about who was who and what not. It was double play, often – you say one thing, think another, do a third. He played an important role in Estonia’s re-independence, and now he’s also talking about it. The more people talk, the clearer the picture becomes; a large part of our contemporary history is still not talked about.
Mr Rüütel has done Estonia two favours – helping dismantle the Soviet Union and leading Estonia into the European Union. Ahead of the referendum on joining the EU, support used to be less than a half. After Mr Rüütel’s several months’ campaign, it multiplied.
Also, he is the only Estonian president who has exchanged shots with Russians. As Russian troops were retreating, in 1941, there was a knock on the Rüütel farmhouse window. Arnold’s father, a Self-Defence Force man, handed him a gun, and together they protected their home in armed conflict.
Peeter Ernits is an Estonian zoologist and journalist. Until 1980 he worked at Tallinn Zoo as a research fellow. Thereafter he was employed by the Estonian Nature Museum and as editor-in-chief of the journal, Luup. He is currently a journalist at Maaleht. In the 2011 general election he ran as candidate within People’s Union of Estonia (Rahvaliit), but failed to get elected.