M. Mikko MEP at the opening of Meeli Kõiva's exhibition at the European Parliament, 21 February 2006

Kallid sõbrad,
Dear friends,

I will start with a few sentences in Estonian, before switching back to English that everyone present can understand.

Mul on hea meel tervitada kaasmaalasi Meeli Vällo-Kõiva näituse avamisel Euroopa Parlamendis. See on esimene Eesti näitus siin Eesti Euroopa Liidu liikmeks saamisest saadik. Ma loodan et see ei jää viimaseks, et Eesti ning meie kunst saab hästi esindatud. Mul on eriti hea meel, et esimene eesti kunstnik, kes esineb europarlamendis, on naiskunstnik. Naiskunstnik, kes kasutab kõige modernsemaid materjale ja meetodeid. Nii esindame kõige paremini Eesti kui tulevikumaa kuvandit Euroopas. Palju õnne, Meeli!

Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to introduce Estonian art to this house today. I spent a lot of thought on what kind of art would represent Estonia the best. To show paintings is simple and usual. Graphics are not rare either. We have seen sculpture many times. So what could Estonia, what could New Europe offer?
It has been the 21st century for quite a few years already and I decided to showcase what in my mind represents the Estonian contribution best. The key words here are future, dynamism and woman.

Women outnumber men about 2 to 1 among the CONSUMERS of culture. It is an achievement of the recent decades. At the time of the French Revolution or even the end of the 19th century, men were main consumers of art. Now women are also moving closer to parity among the creators and administrators of culture. This is very timely and welcome.
Meeli Kõiva-Vällo uses the most modern and difficult materials. Glass as a matter is not as masculine as iron or bronze might be, but it is extremely difficult to work with. Using light diodes is also a very complicated undertaking. I think she does it remarkably well.

This exhibition is dedicated to the Estonian Independence Day, February the 24th. 88 years ago, we achieved our independence for the first time and prospered for 20 years until Hitler and Stalin divided Europe and then went to war over it.
Under 50 years of Soviet occupation Estonia never stopped dreaming of independence. In 1991 we fought for our freedom for the second time in a century - and we were victorious.
Freedom is a strong, sweet and important word. We must treasure that everywhere in Europe and defend it everywhere in the world.

Thank you!