Results for “Toomas Hendrik Ilves”

Right now, only 2% of Europeans have studied outside of their home country – I would want to raise that to 45%. The provincialism that reigns in so many countries would be considerably lessened if it was just considered normal that you would spend at least a year in some other country.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

These are the kinds of digital services that have been technologically available for 25 years but just haven't been implemented anywhere. Basically, for scalability all you need is more servers.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

I personally want to throw up every time I hear some completely senseless and baseless statement like 'we need more of Europe, not less'. It means nothing, and those slogans simply drive people crazy – It goes to show the intellectual vacuousness of the people who say them.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

If you have a start-up, you start out with an idea, but in 6 months you realise 'that wasn't the right idea'. This is how truly creative companies work. Nobody can do that with EU funding because you are locked-in to your original proposal – and because of that no-one I know in the start-up world wants money from the EU.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

For us, for our people, who were under communist domination, we were comfortable and happy to take on a European identity when we gained independence. Identity is something incredibly personal; and how the individual combines their national and European identity is something they do themselves.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

We have to shift the focus of our discussions on Europe to trying to deal with the citizens' concerns. And I mean simple things, like 'I can't buy an iTunes record for someone living in a different country because of the geolocation requirements and copyright'.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

I personally want to throw up every time I hear some completely senseless and baseless statement like 'we need more of Europe, not less'. It means nothing, and those slogans simply drive people crazy – It goes to show the intellectual vacuousness of the people who say them.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

Without the existence of Europe, smaller countries like mine [Estonia] would have a difficult time to survive economically or even from a defence perspective. The internal European market is absolutely vital for the functioning of the very different economies of the continent.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer

In my case, and for many people I know, a European identity is something that was denied to us for 50 years. For 50 years, Estonia was occupied by the Soviets, and so- for us- for our people, who were under communist domination, we were comfortable and happy to take on a European identity when we gained independence.

Former President of Estonia & Cybersecurity Pioneer