"As a citizen, every one of us is the owner of of our country," Ilves wrote on Facebook. "And an owner is responsible; an owner cares. Just as we grew from the times of Young Estonia [cultural and literary movement] into a European country, so will we also grow into a more open and modern people who can handle anything that comes our way. But only if we ourselves are ready for it.

"Dear friends," he continued. "All that is good and dear does not have to be grand and visible from afar. Estonia is like a wild srawberry: it is primordial and small, it is difficult to find, and those who don't know how won't even notice it or know how to appreciate it. But once you get ahold of it — once you have it, and it is your own — it is one of the best things ever. Our home is our wild strawberry patch. And what our home — our Estonia of tomorrow — will be like is first and foremost of our own doing."