Major events of the summer, including the Song and Dance Festival and ESTO 2025, will bring our compatriots together in Estonia from many countries around the world. Estonians, who have made their home abroad, will take to the Kalev Stadium and Song Festival Grounds. ESTO, or the 13th Global Estonian Cultural Days, helps strengthen the sense of belonging among Estonians. This awards the Integration Foundation an excellent opportunity to interact directly with representatives of foreign communities through the advisory service. We nurture our fellow Estonians’ links with Estonia; help them arrange meetings on site; introduce their projects on the www.globalestonian.com website; and participate in language camps.
Kaire Cocker, Head of Compatriots Service at the Integration Foundation, recalls:
I joined the Integration Foundation as a Compatriots’ Advisor in 2019, when more people of Estonian descent began to repatriate. We saw an exponential growth in demand for various services. The 100th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia likely influenced the trend, as it drew a lot of attention all over the world.
Our government announced, a year later, that it is of strategic importance to maintain and strengthen contacts with our compatriots. The area that had been long and well managed by the Ministry of Culture was then transferred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At that time, we launched our close partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is going strong to this day. The Integration Foundation had already set up a separate Compatriots’ Counselling Service, which I was appointed to manage. We offer services in three main domains: we support and counsel those who return, support compatriots’ communities abroad, and keep in touch via the information portal at www.globalestonian.com.
The Estonian Diaspora Action Plan is implemented in cooperation with several ministries. We have made progress in supporting both fellow Estonians who return, as well as those who reside abroad, which is one of our important lines of action highlighted in the strategy statement of the foundation. As a result, we can provide even higher quality and more customised services than before.
We are here to help at summer events
Speaking of this year’s plans, the major summer events will draw many compatriots to Estonia from all over the world, but for numerous activities within a short period. Since participants have a busy schedule, we try to be flexible – we will visit events whenever possible, meet with community representatives, and offer support and assistance as needed to ensure that everything goes smoothly and according to plan.
Groups of Estonian expatriates have made a tremendous effort to be able to perform at the Song and Dance Festival. Several of these groups make do without professional mentors at hand. Often, members of these collectives live in the same country but far apart from each other, which poses logistical and time-related challenges. It is hard to even imagine their challenges from our perspective. That is precisely why it is overwhelmingly meaningful for performers to make it to the Estonian Song and Dance Festival from abroad. This year, we are expecting nearly 70 groups from across the globe to sing and dance in Estonia.
We offer support throughout the year
On top of major summer events, we organise traditional expatriate camps and peer-to-peer meetings for those who have returned. At the meetings, participants mingle in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere, sharing personal experiences from their journeys back to Estonia. Camps play an especially important role among our younger expatriates. At the camp, we teach Estonian customs and traditions, brush up on Estonian, and help people rediscover their roots. This ensures some knowledge of local life, if some of the young people decide to stay in Estonia for longer.
Let’s keep an open mind
Looking at the bigger picture, I wish the Estonian people would keep an open mind towards their compatriots living abroad and those who return here for good. Everyone has their reason for moving abroad, be it studies, love, employment, or some other life event. We should be more tolerant towards all those who have decided to form stronger bonds with Estonia or even return to live here. They are our people, simply with new experiences!
Kaire Cocker, Head of Compatriots Service at the Integration Foundation
