Estonian president to bestow more than 150 state decorations this year

Ahead of this Independence Day, President Alar Karis will bestow state decorations on 157 people, including both Estonians and Estonia's supporters abroad.
"Awarding state decorations to our people and our supporters abroad is an affirmation of the values that Estonia stands for and holds dear," Karis wrote in the preface to his order.
"Openness and democracy, wisdom and compassion, determination and entrepreneurship, perseverance and even bravery — these are the principles that unite the recipients of these decorations," he emphasized.
Among the recipients this year are poet, publisher and academic Hando Runnel, molecular biologist and academic Richard Villems, former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, former secretary of state Taimar Peterkop and former European Commissioner Kadri Simson, as well as composer Olav Ehala, academic and University of Tartu professor Krista Fischer, choir director and Estonian Academy of Music and Theater (EMTA) lecturer Triin Koch.
Foreign recipients include U.S. European Commander and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, U.K. Gen. Patrick Sanders, retired U.S. Lt. Gen. John S. Kolasheski, German Lt. Gen. Jürgen-Joachim von Sandrart, former President of Iceland Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Lithuanian Col. Elegijus Paulavičius and U.S. journalist Michael Weiss.
Five recipients connected to ERR
Among the recipients of this year's state decorations are five people whose work is connected, to a greater or lesser extent, to Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR).
These include ERR sports reporter Anu Säärits, cultural journalist and "Plekktrumm" host Joonas Hellerma and ERR sound director Teet Kehlmann, as well as documentary filmmaker Jaan Tootsen, known to ERR's radio listeners as the driving force behind "Ööülikool," and sound director Tanel Klesment, who frequently works on ERR's classical radio programs.
The president will present the recipients with their decorations on Saturday, February 22, two days before Estonian Independence Day, at the Tallinn College of Music and Ballet (MUBA).
ETV will broadcast the ceremony on February 24.
Click here (link in Estonian) for a full list of this year's recipients.
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Editor: Urmet Kook, Aili Vahtla