In the address she delivered shortly before the Estonian parliament elected her president on 2 September 2026, Ülle Madise urged Estonians to abandon political rancour, trust one another and build a freer, happier and stronger country.

Estonia’s independence gives us both the opportunity and the duty to make the best possible choices. Our people. Language. Culture. Nature. Enterprise. Freedom and responsibility. Strong, reliable allies who have reason to trust us in return. Peace.

Estonia’s greatest treasure is the people who live here. We must do everything possible to ensure there are many people to carry the Estonian language and culture forward. Every child born here should have the best possible life and education and grow into a good person.

Estonia must be the best place in which to live, raise children and grow old; to invent and write poetry; to conduct research and do business. Free, vibrant, happy, exciting, alive and evolving. Everyone must be able to feel that they themselves – and their life, work and creativity – matter.

A slam poem by Aliis Aalmann at President Alar Karis’s Rose Garden reception seemed to me to be about trust. Or, more precisely, its absence:

a teacher must be a vocation-driven, do-everything being capable

of living – no, not on fresh air and love – but on being constantly

questioned and having to prove themselves

the need to guide pupils to think for themselves is emphasised, as though no one

had ever done so before

the need to develop pupils’ competencies is emphasised, as though no one

had ever done so before

there are those who know what is right; everyone else is a teacher.

This chimed, in its own way, with Teodor van Dijk’s rendition of Genialistid’s “Õpetaja” – “The Teacher” – on the evening of this year’s Independence Day:

Where are you, my good teacher?

Why did you not teach me how to live?

Why can’t I get by with a smile?

The instructions, rules, reporting requirements and controls that constrain initiative, creativity and skill – and that constrain this same teacher – are expressions of mistrust. They did not come from nowhere. Yet trust is both possible and necessary.

We need far more trust. Every one of us, in our own lives. Let us not ask for someone above us to prescribe how we must live, think and feel. It is neither true nor possible that the state knows best how we should live and breathe or how to run a business. The people who understand business are the people who do it.

Let us trust the teacher and the doctor. Let us trust the child and the young person. The gardener. The scientist. The journalist. The police officer. The cook. The country dweller and the city dweller. The neighbour. The elected representative. Let us trust one another. And let us always give one another reason to do so.

A good education should enable a person living here to be both a virtuoso with technology and excellent in their profession, while also being able to build a bookshelf, dig a garden bed, make a cutlet and knit a pair of gloves with their own hands, should they wish or need to.

They should feel at home in the wider world because they have a broad outlook and speak languages – not merely Estonian and English, but others besides. And of course they should feel at home in their own country, in its forests and on its seas, because this is our cherished place on Earth.

A small country with an intelligent people can lead innovation through international cooperation, creating value for everyone while also benefiting itself. Being of value means being needed and recognised. That, too, is a guarantee of security.

As a small nation, we must stand together. We should argue passionately about our destination and the roads that will take us there – in search of answers and solutions. Just as Eiki, Siim, Mart, Edgar, Marju, Tunne, Liia, Jüri and many others did. When necessary, let us disagree with dignity, but let us look after one another. It is our Estonia, after all. Our own people.

When did we stop fighting for the best possible future for Estonia and begin, all too often, fighting one another instead, regardless of what becomes of that future? What is done is done. From now on, we must do better.

Let us reject the maxim, “If you see something wrong, go and criticise it.” Let us instead follow the wisdom of our forebears, as befits our country: go and help.

We must do everything we can to reduce the number of people who have reason to feel bad: those who have been treated unfairly, bullied or humiliated at home, at school or at work and those who have gone without or been left behind. Ideally, there should be none at all.

This should be everyone’s task: to notice, help and support others, to build strength and make Estonia greater. Those facing hardship must not be left alone; they, too, must be helped to spread their wings.

Here in Estonia, every soul counts and is worth its weight in gold.

May there be more humour and laughter, more initiative and lightness in life. We need only close the computer, put down the phone and step out of the world shaped by algorithms.

You will surely have noticed that there are women and men who survived the occupation and terrible hardships, yet whose zest for life remains infectious.

Bright-eyed young people at our universities and in laboratories abroad; and at vocational schools, acquiring skills that will be so badly needed in the future. The exciting pop culture and style of the young.

A village folk-dance group, an extended family’s choir – and so good that they could go straight to the Song and Dance Celebration!

The football lads of Lüllemäe village – they learnt from the masters they watched on YouTube and television; now, with the support of a coach, they are winning tournaments.

Farmers who say: look at these magnificent sheep, the finest cattle and chickens around. Look at those fields of grain! See, a golden-green tomato growing perfectly happily outdoors!

The Victoria Bastion in Narva. Excellent guides. And bats sleeping peacefully there through the winter.

Members of the Defence League. Members of the Women’s Voluntary Defence Organisation. Volunteer rescuers. Young volunteers in national defence.

Merike Estna at the Venice Biennale.

Nina Petrõkina and Baruto. Arvo Pärt and Jaan Tallinn. Merely a tiny selection; the list is long.

A small country is like an elite athlete or a great artist: never an off-the-shelf project, always bespoke. Steering a small country towards the top among nearly 200 countries and more than eight billion people is a tremendous ambition. I do not fear that challenge and I know most of us do not either.

Shouldering responsibility for governing requires credibility, foresight and fairness. Otherwise, we will neither survive nor remain united. The generations of the Estonian people – past, present and future – deserve nothing less.

At the Office of the Chancellor of Justice, we end each working day knowing that we have addressed people’s concerns, resolved cases of bureaucratic harassment, offered sound advice and made Estonia better and, through international cooperation, greater.

This work alongside my wonderful colleagues has given me a deep understanding of Estonia and the conviction that, through cooperation, most problems can be solved and needless resentment reduced.

Yes, Estonia stands on the front line of security for all Europe and the entire free West. But that line holds because our predecessors had the wisdom to restore independence, race to catch up with the free world and build a safe country free from corruption.

They had the vision and ingenuity to steer Estonia into the European Union and NATO – not merely to coast along inside them, but to help build a common future. I look at and listen to our police officers, members of the Defence Forces, diplomats and national leaders with sincere gratitude and civic pride.

I feel both respect and awe.

I feel a responsibility towards our people.

I feel a responsibility to Estonia.

I am certain that together we can make Estonia greater, happier and stronger.

I am ready to shoulder the responsibility of head of state if you, honourable members of the parliament, entrust it to me.

The opinions in this article are those of the author.