Laas Leivat: We celebrate a restoration

Two minutes after 11:00 pm on August 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the occupied ‘ESSR’ voted for the restoration of the Estonian Republic. Usually, the ‘founding’, the creation of a nation is cause for an annual celebration – July 1 for Canada, July 4 for the USA, February 24 for Estonia.

However, for Estonians, the August 20, 1991 Restoration of Independence as the reconstruction of the state has equal existential significance, as does the 1918 Declaration of Independence. Both actions required the unified determination of Estonians to be successful.