State funeral for President Arnold Rüütel on 10 & 11 January

Services forming part of the state funeral for President Arnold Rüütel will begin on Friday 10 January at Kadriorg Art Museum (A. Weizenbergi 37), where the people of Estonia will have the chance to pay their respects to the former head of state from 12:00-21:00. This will take the form of a book of condolences, in which messages of remembrance and sympathy can be left for President Rüütel's loved ones.

At 9:00 on Saturday 11 January, President Rüütel's casket will be brought to Toompea, where a commemorative ceremony will be held in the Governor's Garden at sunrise. A flag of mourning will be raised on Pikk Hermann Tower to the accompaniment of the national anthem, excerpts from President Rüütel's last speech as head of state in the Riigikogu will be read and music will be performed by the joint choir of the Estonian Male Singers Association and the Estonian Military Orchestra in honour of the late president. The flag-hoisting units of the Estonian Defence League will form a guard of honour alongside a combined unit of the Defence League, the Women's Voluntary Defence Organisation, the Young Eagles and the Home Daughters. From Toompea, President Rüütel's casket will move in a funeral procession to the Estonia Concert Hall, accompanied by the funeral drums of the Estonian Military Orchestra and the flag-hoisting units of the Defence League.

The memorial ceremony for President Rüütel at the Estonia Concert Hall will begin at midday. Since the number of places in the hall is limited, only invited guests will be admitted. President Alar Karis will speak, along with Estonian University of Life Sciences rector Ülle Jaakma, Estonia Society honorary member Arne Mikk and 20th of August Club member Rein Veidemann. The Prayer for the Soul of the Deceased will be read by Metropolitan Stephanos of Tallinn and All Estonia, Primate of the Orthodox Church of Estonia. Performing during the ceremony will be the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian National Male Choir, Celia Roose, Jarek Kasar, Heldur Harry Põlda (Estonian National Opera) and Piret Aidulo. Leading proceedings will be Tõnu Kaljuste, Olari Elts and Mikk Üleoja. Music has been written for the event by Tõnu Kõrvits and Pärt Uusberg.

Church bells all over Estonia will ring out in memory of President Rüütel at 13:20. The funeral procession will then move from the Estonia Concert Hall to the Office of the President of the Republic in Kadriorg. The F-35 aircraft of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, which provides air defence for NATO, will fly overhead in tribute as President Rüütel's casket makes its way along Weizenbergi Street.

President Alar Karis, former presidents Kersti Kaljulaid and Toomas Hendrik Ilves and foreign guests will wait on President Rüütel's casket in a commemorative moment in the forecourt of the President's Office. Among the foreign dignitaries attending the state funeral will be the former presidents of Finland and Latvia, Tarja Halonen and Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Kęstutis Budrys; Head of the International Policy Bureau of the President of the Republic of Poland Mieszko Pawlak; and Director of the International Policy Bureau at the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland Marcin Łapczyński. Standing in attendance in front of the President's Office will be an honour guard of the Guard Battalion and the Tallinn Police Orchestra.

From the forecourt of the President's Office, the funeral procession will be led by the military brass and percussion of the Defence League to Weizenbergi Street. President Rüütel's hearse will then pull away from the procession, drawing up in front of Kadriorg Art Museum, where a Seto lament will be sung by Õie Sarv in memory of President Rüütel. The hearse will then continue its journey along the parkway towards the waterfront on Narva Highway, flanked by honour guards from all of the flag-hoisting units of the Defence Forces and Defence League.

President Rüütel will be buried in the grounds of the Forest Cemetery. At the request of the family, this ceremony will only involve the former head of state's loved ones. We ask that everyone respects this wish. The interment will be a religious service conducted by Archbishop Urmas Viilma, primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and president of the Estonian Council of Churches. During the ceremony, the Defence Forces will pay their last respects to President Rüütel with a gun and cannon salute. Music will be provided at the Forest Cemetery by Vox Clamantis, conducted by Jaan-Eik Tulve.

The events of 11 January will be broadcast live by ERR (Estonian Public Broadcasting). Please take into account that there will be lengthy disruptions to traffic in a number of locations on the day due to the funeral procession.

The memorial ceremonies and events are being carried out in accordance with the wishes of President Rüütel's family and in line with the traditions of state funerals in Estonia, arrangements for which involve hundreds of people from different organisations. The funeral committee formed by the government on this occasion includes representatives of the Office of the President of the Republic, the Government Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tallinn City Government, the Police and Border Guard Board and the Defence Forces. The committee is headed up by Krista Zibo, the director of the Office of the President of the Republic.