The Young Estonian Generation & Europe's Future

Two crucial topics will define Europe’s future: the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis.

For this event we were honoured to host Hanah Lahe to talk about her experiences as part of a young, politically engaged generation in Estonia. Hanah Lahe started as a climate activist before being elected into Parliament at age 23. She ia a member of the Environment Committee and founded the first circular economy support group in parliament. She also led the fight for same sex marriage and within months, Estonia become the first ex-Soviet country to legalise same-sex marriage in January 2024. Hanah represents the liberal Reform party of the prime minister, Kaja Kallas.

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What are the main challenges as an activist and then as a young politician? What can you do as a parliamentarian to impact climate policies? What is Estonia doing on these issues? The history and geography of Estonia, bordering Russia, puts the country in a unique position when it comes to Russian's war of aggression against Ukraine. In 2022 Estonia was the leading donating nation per capita. "It matters to everyone who is Estonian how things are going in Ukraine" Hanah told the Guardian in early March. What can we learn from Estonia when it comes to defending peace and democracy in Europe? What should young Europeans understand about Estonian politics and history? How does the young generation in Estonia look at security and geopolitics today?

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