HISTORY OF U.S. RELATIONS WITH ESTONIA

U.S. and Estonian Staff of the U.S. Legation to Estonia, ca. 1936 (Eesti Filmiarhiiv)

The United States has maintained continuous official diplomatic relations with the Republic of Estonia since July 28, 1922. Frederick W. B. Coleman of Minnesota was appointed to be the first U.S. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Baltic States on September 20, 1922.  He presented his credentials in Tallinn on November 20, 1922. 

From 1919 to 1922, U.S. interests in the Republic of Estonia were represented by a U.S. Commissioner based in Riga (Latvia) and a U.S. Consul based in Tallinn.  Estonian diplomats have been accredited to the U.S. Department of State since 1922 and Estonian consular representatives have operated in the United States continuously since 1920. 

After the illegal occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union on June 17, 1940, U.S. Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles issued a statement on July 23, 1940 which established the U.S. Government's official policy of non-recognition.  As a result, the United States never recognized the forcible incorporation of Estonia and the other Baltic republics of Latvia and Lithuania into the Soviet Union. [Read full text]  

Following the restoration of Estonia's rightful independence on August 21, 1991, the United States announced its readiness to re-establish full relations with the Republic of Estonia on September 2, 1991.  Robert C. Frasure of West Virginia presented his credentials to the Estonian Government as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim on October 2, 1991.  He was appointed the first U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Estonia on March 23, 1992.  He presented his credentials on April 9, 1992. 

The United States Mission to Estonia resumed operations in the current U.S. Embassy chancery building located on Kentmanni Street on February 6, 1992 – in the very same building which housed the U.S. Legation to Estonia from April 1, 1930 until it was forced to close on September 5, 1940.

Additional information:

U.S. Recognition Statement, 1922

U.S. Diplomatic Representatives to Estonia, 1919-1940

U.S. Citizens Who Received Estonian State Awards, 1920-1940

Locations and Functions of the U.S. Mission to Estonia, 1920-1940

U.S. Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles: U.S. Non-Recognition Policy Statement, 1940

U.S. Ambassadors to Estonia, 1991 - to present

U.S. Citizens Who Received Estonian State Awards, 1991 - to present

U.S.-Estonian Relations, 1991 - to present

Read Their Stories:

Henry W. Antheil, Jr.

Lt. Clifford A. Blanton: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Charles E. Bohlen: Learning How to See Soviet Russia from Estonia

The Carlsons: At Home in Estonia

Virginia Hall: Not Bad for a Girl from Baltimore

Loy W. Henderson: How One American Earned Estonia's Cross of Liberty

Herbert Hoover: Former U.S. President Comes to Tallinn

John Patrick Hurley: The First U.S. Consul to the Republic of Estonia

George F. Kennan: Learning How to See Soviet Russia from Estonia

August A. Krantz: The Mysterious Captain Krantz

Samuel Eliot Morison: A Historian Who Made History

Edward Ryan: The Amazing Dr. Edward Ryan and the Work of the American Red Cross in Estonia

John & Irena Wiley: Bearing Witness

John & Irena Wiley: On Rediscovering Maria Laidoner's Secret

Lt. George W. Winfield: The Ultimate Sacrifice

USS Chattanooga: The First U.S. Navy Ship to Visit Estonia

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