Because of cyberattacks and fake news, we can already imagine the problem all democratic societies will face in future elections: how to limit lies when they threaten democracy?
Toomas Hendrik IlvesRead
When Estonia reestablished its sovereignty after a half century of successive thuggish, totalitarian, foreign occupations by the Soviets, the Nazis, and then again the Soviets, we knew we wanted to create a democratic country characterized by rule of law and respect for human rights.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of democracy and human rights following oppression.
Toomas Hendrik Ilves reflects on Estonia's journey to reclaim its sovereignty after enduring decades of totalitarian rule. The quote highlights the aspirations of the Estonian people to establish a democratic state that upholds the rule of law and respects human rights, illustrating the vital connection between freedom and governance.
Themes
DemocracyHuman RightsSovereigntyEstoniaFreedom
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the importance of voting, one might use this quote to stress the value of sovereignty and democracy.
More from Toomas Hendrik Ilves
All quotes →Digital warfare, in the Clausewitz definition as 'the continuation of policy by other means,' reached Western public consciousness via my own country, Estonia, in 2007 when our governmental, banking, and news media servers were hit with 'distributed denial-of-service attacks,' which is when hackers overload servers until they shut down.
Toomas Hendrik IlvesRead
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