JULIA BOATEMA GYEDU ACOLATSE

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia has been active without recess for 100 yearsand is the only government institution that did not cease to exist during the Soviet occupation. After 1940 some Estonian foreign representations continued to operate in countries that refused to recognize the occupation of annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union. The Consulate General in New York remained open under the helm of Johannes Kaiv and later Ernst Jaakson until Estonia restored its independence in 1991. One notable instance from this period was the Apollo lunar landing in summer 1969 - together with messages from other countries, the spacecraft carried a statement by Jaakson on behalf of the Republic of Estonia. The Estonian Embassy in London remained active until 1989 and was reopened after Estonia restored its independence. Although the anniversary reception took place during the Grand Celebration Week of Estonia 100, there is no one date when the Estonian foreign service was founded - instead it took shape as part of a longer process. The decision to form an official Estonian foreign delegation was taken by the Estonian Provision Land Council (Maapäev) already on 7 September 1917 and members of this foreign delegation laid the foundations for the first Estonian embassies. Many consider 14 November 1918 as the date when the Ministry became formally active, asking the British and French consuls in Helsinki to send arms and assistance to stop the retreating German forces from taking away assets and food. Today Estonia has 45 foreign representations and around 200 honorary consuls. The Ministry employs 585 people across the world.