The citizen of the year is Johanna-Maria Lehtme

"This year's Citizen of the Year, Johanna-Maria Lehtme, is undoubtedly the face of the coming year in the colors of the Ukrainian flag," said Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets Estonian politician. , who announced the name of the Citizen of the Year, adding that this year's Citizen's Day is special. "The last year has been overshadowed by Russia's attack on the free state of Ukraine and its people. During these months, we have seen how quickly and effectively our non-governmental organizations and volunteers acted to help Ukrainians in their homeland from the very first days of the war, as well as by supporting the war refugees who arrived here. Certainly, many companies and entrepreneurs who came to the aid of the state and volunteers with advice and strength must be recognized here," said Läänemets.

"The application for the nomination of Citizen of the Year emphasizes how Johanna-Maria Lehtme, in a constantly changing, often confusing and tense situation, has been able to find more and more opportunities to help Ukraine and Ukrainians, while being able to mobilize the private sector and other non-governmental organizations and volunteers. Great things happen when we do things jointly and together," the minister added.

According to Läänemets, this year's recipients of the Citizen's Day badge of honor recognize civil society in its diversity. "With badges of honor, on the one hand, we recognize helpers of Ukraine and Ukrainians, whose activities have a cross-border reach, but also promoters of local life and those who help solve the concerns of people and animals. All of these people are equally role models for our society because they are driven by empathy and a commitment to truly help. This makes them exemplary citizens," said the minister.

This year's Citizen's Day is special, because the authors of the works submitted to the first-ever youth creative competition "Our common future in Estonia" were also recognized. The competition invited young people whose mother tongue is different from Estonian to dream about what our common future in Estonia should look like.

The competition was held in two age groups for young people aged 14–18 and 19–23. Competition works could be submitted in Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian and English. Outstanding works were recognized in both age categories and three winning works in each category were announced.

Best works:

"Research", Alissa Petuhhova and Nelli Tjutina
"Our common future in Estonia", Anzhela Bolzhelarska
"Essay "Our common future in Estonia", Elina Kozlova
"So what kind of Estonia do we want?", Daria Dmitrijeva
"Our common future in Estonia", Daniil Sergejev
"A letter to a son", Aleksandr Barantsev

This year, the Citizen's Day badges of honor were awarded for the 25th time. The citizen of the year honor was awarded for the 20th time this year.

All private and legal entities could submit candidates for Citizens' Day badges of honor and Citizen of the Year. The proposals were reviewed by a committee established under the Ministry of the Interior, which included representatives of state institutions and non-governmental organizations, as well as prominent individuals in civil society. The Citizen's Day badge of honor and the honorary title of Citizen of the Year are awarded only once in a lifetime.

Citizens' Day is celebrated in Estonia on November 26.