U.S. ex-president George Bush Jr. will receive Estonia’s highest state decoration for foreigners for his role in Estonia’s 2004 accession to NATO, the Delfi web portal said on Wednesday.
The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana is bestowed by the country’s president on foreigners who rendered special services to the Republic of Estonia.
The office of the country’s President Toomas Ilves said Bush would receive the first-class order for his “decisive role in NATO’s 2004 expansion”, when the Baltic states joined the military alliance, and for his “support for Estonian interests in foreign policy and security.”
Russian human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva will get the third-class award.
The award ceremony will be held on the eve of the country’s Independence Day, marked on February 24.
After being instituted in 1995, The Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana was awarded to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 2011, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in 2007, France’s ex-president Jacques Chirac in 2001 and other state leaders.
