Estonian ex-president Arnold Ruutel dies at 96 – Occasions of India

TALLINN: Former Estonian president Arnold Ruutel, seen as one of many fathers of the nation’s return to independence in 1991, has died on the age of 96, the president’s workplace stated in a single day.
Ruutel was a communist social gathering official on the finish of the Eighties simply because the Soviet Union was starting to unravel, earlier than changing into a protagonist within the Baltic nation’s efforts to win again its sovereignty after a half century of rule from Moscow.
As president of Estonia from 2001 to 2006, Ruutel contributed to its becoming a member of the European Union and to NATO in 2004.
“He was one of many leaders of our independence,” stated a press release from the workplace of the Baltic nation’s presidency.