Interior minister presents 85 new Estonians with citizenship certificates
Eighty-five new citizens of Estonia were handed certificates of citizenship in a ceremony at Tallinn’s Lillepaviljon on Friday.
The event was attended by newly naturalized citizens from Tallinn and the counties of Harju, Pärnu, Lääne and Lääne-Viru, as well as their family members and friends.
The certificates of citizenship were handed to them by Minister of the Interior Hanno Pevkur (Reform) and the chief of the North prefecture of the Police and Border Guard Board, Kristian Jaani.
“Today's ceremony is symbolic in several respects – we are celebrating your becoming citizens of Estonia, and tomorrow is the 25th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of the Republic of Estonia. I congratulate our new citizens and everyone on tomorrow’s anniversary,” Jaani said.
To 57-year-old Aleksandr, receiving his certificate right before Estonia’s re-independence day made this an important day in his life. He said that he had wanted to become a citizen for a long time, but that it had taken him more than 20 years to get there.
Bok-Fum and Sung-Kyung, from South Korea, were happy that it had been made official. “We have been in Estonia for a pretty long time, Estonia has been our home for a pretty long time, and now it’s officially confirmed!”
The oldest new citizen was 77-year-old Anatoli. “That’s just how it is, like the saying goes, better late than never,” he quipped.
So far this year, 1,325 people have become citizens of Estonia, including 876 minors who obtained citizenship by naturalization. Last year, 897 were granted citizenship.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS/ERR