President of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience
Wrocław-Prague, 09.11.2026
Mr Lauri Hussar
President of the Riigikogu
Ms Annely Akkermann
Chair of the Finance Committee and Members of the Finance Committee
Riigikogu
Lossi plats 1a
15165 Tallinn, Estonia
Re: Support for the Patarei Memorial Museum for Victims of Communism
Dear Mr President,
Dear Madam Chair,
I am writing to express support for the Patarei Memorial Museum for Victims of Communism. This project is led by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory—a member organisation of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience—which I know very well.I. For many years we have worked side by side on remembrance in its European dimension, and I regard the Institute as one of the most respected voices in our community and a great, valuable member organisation. Its roots trace back to the international commission President Lennart Meri established in 1998 to investigate crimes against humanity committed in Estonia under both occupations. Today, its research, its care for the Victims of Communism Memorial at Maarjamäe, and its international work make Estonia’s experience part of Europe’s shared memory, and partners across the continent value its expertise.
Since 2018, the Estonian state has supported the idea that Patarei should house an international museum and research centre dedicated to the victims of totalitarianism, and has brought the project to its final stage.
Everyone involved in this project deserves our sincere gratitude. During my last stay in Tallinn, I visited Patarei and learned in detail what the museum will be. It is an extraordinary project in an extraordinary place. Patarei became the place where two occupying regimes held, interrogated and condemned those they wished to silence.
Standing there, you understand why this story must be told here and nowhere else. What remains for the victims is the truth: told fully, told carefully, and told where it happened. A museum of this kind is more than a cultural institution. It is a form of justice that history otherwise withheld. Such a place belongs to everyone who suffered within its walls, under both occupations, and to every family that lost someone there.
The museum now stands one step from completion. That step is the last, and it must be taken in full.
The museum is due to open on 14 June 2027, the Day of Mourning. For some of those who survived Patarei’s cells, and for many families who never learnt where their loved ones were laid to rest, that day will be the moment they have waited for all their lives. Time is the one thing they cannot be given more of. The opening also rests on people: the Institute’s researchers and specialists, whose knowledge has been built over many years and has no equivalent in Estonia.
I am fully aware that the 2027 State Budget is being prepared at a time of difficult choices, and I deeply respect the responsibility this places on the Riigikogu and the Government. Because resources are scarce, I wish to speak for this project. I respectfully ask the Riigikogu to give favourable consideration to securing the museum’s opening, its first year of operation and the continuity of the team that has prepared it. A modest, stable commitment now would allow Estonia to complete, with the dignity it deserves, the work it began in 2018 and let years of shared effort reach the conclusion they were meant for. Having stood in Patarei, I am convinced that it will become one of the places where Europe learns what freedom costs.
The museum’s designers chose light falling through a cell window as its guiding image: for a prisoner, the first promise of freedom. I hope the Riigikogu will help ensure that this light reaches the visitors of 2027. Remembering the victims of Patarei is not only a debt Estonia owes to its past; it is a promise to every generation that will grow up free. Thank you for your attention and for the support the Riigikogu has given this project over the years, and I look forward to standing alongside Estonia at Patarei on 14 June 2027.
Please accept the assurances of my highest consideration,
Marek Mutor
President
Platform of European Memory and Conscience
