The Estonian flag was raised today at a ceremony held at CERN to mark the country’s accession as CERN’s 24th Member State. The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Estonia, Alar Karis, one of the two Vice-Presidents of the CERN Council, Eric Laenen, and the CERN Director-General, Fabiola Gianotti, together with representatives of CERN’s Member and Associate Member States and Observers and the CERN community.

“I am delighted that the aspirations of our academic community, companies and government have come together and made CERN membership a reality. This is a major milestone for Estonia and we are keen to contribute to the exciting research and innovation at CERN,” said Alar Karis.

“On behalf of the CERN Council, I am very pleased to welcome Estonia as a Member State, building on decades of commitment to basic science and peaceful scientific collaboration. We are now looking forward to reinforcing Estonia’s participation in the CERN Council,” said Eric Laenen.

“The raising of the Estonian flag is a highly symbolic culmination of Estonia’s journey to becoming a CERN Member State, which recognises the long-standing fruitful scientific cooperation between Estonia and CERN and Estonia’s significant contribution to fundamental research. We look forward to enhancing our collaboration in particle physics research, technology and innovation and in the training and education of the next generations with Estonia as a Member State,” said Fabiola Gianotti.