Russian activist attempts illegal border crossing
Russian youth movement activist arrested in Lithuania for illegal border crossing.
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A Russian citizen, Konstantin Goloskokov, was arrested while illegally crossing the border. The trespasser was detained for a two-month term. He is facing a fine or imprisonment for up to two years. Goloskokov was planning to get into Estonia through Lithuania, where he intended to stage an action in Tonismagi Square, where the Bronze Soldier Monument was dismantled last spring. The trespasser informed authorities that he is a Nashi activist; he was going to Estonia via Lithuania, because earlier he had been denied an Estonian visa.
The State Border Control Service stated that overall the number of trespassers has been declining within last three years. In 2007, 484 trespassers were detained, which is by 23% less than in 2006.
Estonian crook's Al-Qaida connection
TALLINN -- Press reports in Estonia say that five young Russian Estonians have been charged with money-laundering in a case that may involve connections to the international terrorist organization, Al-Qaida.
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The
Eesti Ekspress newspaper says that Estonian police have been investigating the men ever since British police contacted them in the wake of the July 2005 London bombings in which 56 people were killed.
One of the suspected ringleaders of the bombing was found to have had an Estonian telephone number on his mobile phone, and to have made at least two money transfers to Estonia. The paper says that the amounts transferred to Tallinn were significant.
Police targeted IT expert Ilya Kotkov and uncovered a sophisticated money-laundering operation. A search of his apartment reportedly discovered around half a million kroons (40,000 euros) in cash.
Kotkov was sentenced to five years in prison of which he will serve eight months.
Trial of activists in spring riots begins in Estonia
"TALLINN, January 11 (RIA Novosti) - Three activists charged with public order offenses following last spring's riots in Tallinn over the removal of a Soviet-era statue will go on trial January 14, a local court said Friday."
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The removal of the graves of Soviet soldiers and the Bronze Soldier monument from central Tallinn provoked mass protests in the capital and some other Estonian cities in late April, when over 1,000 people were arrested, dozens injured and a Russian national killed.
Estonian prosecutors said Dmitry Linter, Maxim Reva and Dmitry Klensky, aided by a member of Russia's Kremlin-backed youth group Nashi, organized riots that led to looting, arson and clashes with police. If found guilty the defendants could face up to five years in prison.
The activists set up a group last spring called Night Watch, whose members guarded the monument commemorating those who died liberating the Baltic state from the Nazis in 1944, in an attempt to prevent its removal.
The move by Estonia aggravated relations with Russia, which has long criticized its discriminative policies toward Russian speakers and leniency toward Estonian SS veterans. Rallies were also held in Moscow, where Nashi activists picketed the Estonian embassy, leading to its brief closure and diplomatic protests.
The trial of the three men will resume on January 15 and will then be held again on January 28-31, the Estonian court said.
4 Tallinn rioters receive suspended sentences
TALLINN, January 21 (RIA Novosti) - An Estonian court on Monday handed down suspended sentences to four people found guilty of public order offenses during last spring's riots in Tallinn...
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Tallinn court gave Andres Maripuu, 20, an 18-month suspended sentence for looting clothes worth over $2,000 from luxury shops...
Alexander Timokhin, 19, received a one-year suspended sentence for breaking a shop window.
Svetlana Karanina, 59, found guilty of attacking a police officer, was given a nine-month suspended sentence.
Earlier in the day the court gave a one-year suspended sentence to Andrei Rybakov for throwing stones at policemen and vandalizing plants outside the National Library.
Estonia Bans Travel for Kremlin Youth Group
Now, tiny Estonia has quietly struck back. It has caused a bit of an uproar here by putting the Nashi protesters on an immigration blacklist, preventing them from traveling not only to Estonia but also, because of its recent entry into the European Union border-free zone, to most of Europe as well.
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MOSCOW — Like many Russians, Mariana B. Skvortsova planned to spend her winter vacation traveling abroad. Yet, as she tried to cross from Russia into Finland this month, border guards refused her entry.
Ms. Skvortsova, a leader in the Kremlin-backed youth group, Nashi, was among hundreds of young people who unleashed furious protests after the former Soviet republic of Estonia moved a monument to World War II-era Soviet soldiers from the center of Tallinn, its capital, to the city’s outskirts last April.
88 years ago: Estonia’s foreign policy
Estonian President's speech on the Anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty
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...After accession to the organisations of existential importance to Estonia, our goals are no longer easily defined. All too often it is no longer possible to say a goal has been achieved, to stamp a task “Done”.
Nowadays, our task is to have an impact and influence in those two organisations regarding issues with the greatest and most immediate bearing on our interests. Our goals include Estonia’s own initiatives in areas whose relevance others perhaps have not yet quite realised. Estonia’s initiative on cyber security in NATO serves as a good example.
Considering these goals, Estonia must have a clear understanding of her own capabilities and opportunities. I argue that we are capable of much more. We must abandon the attitude that we are too small to make a difference.
Being part of NATO also requires and assumes our intellectual contribution.
NATO is the mode and the channel the United States uses for its relations with Europe. As most of us clearly understand, it is in Estonia’s interests for the US to be present and to continue to participate in Europe’s security system.
NATO membership also means participation in the NATO missions. This elementary notion is not necessarily always popular. If we allow NATO to develop into an à la carte alliance, where everyone choses whether or not to participate in a mission – we may face a time when we, too, might not happen to be everyone’s choice on the menu. This we cannot allow.
I have not addressed relations with our eastern neighbour. Considering Russia’s on-going election campaign, it is hard to know what to say. When leading Russian sociologists believe election success requires the creation of an „external enemy”, and if at the moment that enemy happens to be Estonia, I conclude this is not the best time for dialogue.
For the same reason, we should take whatever is said or thought of us east of our border with greater composure.
Clinton Campaign responds to JBANC Questionnaire
Joint Baltic American National Committee Inc. sent questionnaires to the leading Democratic and Republican presidential candidates, asking each for their positions on key issues and concerns of the Baltic-American community.
1. What policy would you follow in U.S. relations with Russia given Russia’s increasing Soviet-style isolationism, anti-Western propaganda, and anti-democratic actions such as restrictions on a free media and return to a “one-party system”? How will you act to stem Russia's intimidation of neighboring countries, such as the Baltics, through boycotts, oil supply manipulation, cyber attacks, disinformation, and other means?
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The list of issues that divides the United States and Russia is growing longer. In the heart of Europe, where we have worked hard since the end of the Cold War to bury old rivalries and hostilities...
Many of us had hoped that Baltic-Russian relations would improve after Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia joined NATO and the EU. Instead, Russia has stirred nationalist feelings against Estonia, used oil and natural gas as a political weapon in the Baltic Sea region...
President Putin seems intent on setting Russia on a path of zero-sum competition with the United States...
Unfortunately, President Bush has failed to grasp what is happening. He began the process of tearing up treaties without finding other ways to preserve mutual confidence...
We can do better than this.
As President, I will be ready to work with Russia where our interests intersect – fighting terrorism and nuclear proliferation are just two examples
2. Given the increasingly bold use of energy supply manipulation by Russia as a coercive measure to divide Europe and weaken NATO, what do you think U.S. policy should be to address this problem?
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Energy security is a big issue...and I am concerned that Russia is likely to remain a major source of energy for the Baltic states and most of Europe in coming years.
But what we can and must do is manage that dependency better. Part of the answer to this energy security problem is increased diversification of suppliers
In the 1990s the Clinton Administration made the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline a priority, and thankfully, we helped make it a reality. I am deeply disappointed that President Bush has failed to make possible successor projects a priority. As President, I will.
Above all, we need a more unified position within Europe and between Europe and the United States to level the playing field with Russia.
3. Do you support NATO enlargement?
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Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I was fortunate to learn first-hand about the occupation and illegal annexation of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia...The United States never recognized that annexation, and I am deeply proud of that.
I am also proud of the leadership role that the Clinton Administration played in opening NATO’s door in the 1990s.
4. Do you support expanding trade with and increasing investment in the Baltics? If so, what measures would you propose?
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For many years the Baltic states have been at the cutting edge of reform, and they have rapidly expanded trade with the West.
You have turned the Baltic states into high-tech tigers who set the standard for the Internet age.
5. How would you improve U.S. public diplomacy in the Baltic countries? Would you favor more exchanges and people-to-people contacts? If so, how would you deal with the problems of obtaining visas and the implementation of visa-free travel from the Baltic countries to the United States?
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I know from my own travel to the region how talented and gifted these societies are. I commit to working with you to create the conditions where visa-free travel becomes a reality as quickly as possible. I know that both sides could benefit from this kind of future.
I fondly remember the many talented young Baltic NGO leaders I had the privilege to meet during my visit to Estonia in 1996 and at a Vital Voices conference in Iceland in 1999.
When I am President, the United States will continue to send the same message to the people of the Baltic countries that I sent when I spoke in Estonia in 1996:
“We rejoice in the freedom you have restored here, we admire your courage and tenacity, and we will continue to stand with you as you regain your rightful place in the family of Western democratic nations.”
More detailed responses at the link...
Estonia Offers Soviet-era Explosives Amnesty
TALLINN, Estonia (AFP)--Estonia has launched an unprecedented two week public amnesty on turning in Soviet-era explosives which people may still be hoarding, an Estonian public security official said Tuesday.
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"Anyone who informs us during the two week campaign about having explosives and will hand them over to Rescue Board specialists, will not be punished for a crime, which otherwise might be punished with a fine or even imprisonment.
"We know that many people have explosives (sic) at home which were left in Estonia by the Soviet army, and many people have also collected various explosives (sic) from our oil-shale mines," Porss said.
The explosives amnesty is unprecedented in Estonia.
Soviet-made explosives (sic) left behind in Estonia when the Red Army troops left the country in August 1994 have killed and maimed people handling them.
The amnesty will last until Feb. 17 and has been accompanied by a wide public awareness campaign in newspapers and on television and radio channels.
Kremlin's Nashi: Estonians Persona non gratae
The pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi decided to strike back at Estonia after several of its members were blacklisted and subsequently barred entry to the EU. 50 Nashi activists demonstrated outside Russia's MFA with a list of Estonian figures Nashi wants blacklisted.
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MOSCOW. Feb 4 (Interfax) - The youth organization Nashi has compiled a list of people, including Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, who they believe should be banned from entering Russia, Nashi representative Kristina Potupchik said.
The "black list" including 20 names will be handed over to the Russian Foreign Ministry through a picket Nashi intend to hold Monday afternoon near to the Foreign Ministry, she said. "[Estonia's] unwanted guests include everybody who fought for the Bronze Soldier and for the memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War..."
Explosives Amnesty results from 1st week
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Originally Posted by
Stan
TALLINN, Estonia (AFP)--Estonia has launched an unprecedented two week public amnesty on turning in Soviet-era explosives which people may still be hoarding, an Estonian public security official said Tuesday.
Nearly eight response calls per day...Estonian citizens have turned over almost 47.5 kilos of TNT, 319 electric detonators, 35 various UXO (ranging from 23 to 220mm), 2,008 rounds of military ammunition, six meters of fuse and 500 meters of det cord !
Pretty much what you'd expect from your neighbor's basements :eek:
GE: Actions taken by Estonian govt contradict basic European standards
REGNUM Interview with European Parliament member Sahra Wagenknecht
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REGNUM: Ms. Wagenknecht, what was your motive when visiting Estonia to observe the trial of the young men accused in organizing disorders?
My fear was — and is — that the trial against the four who are being accused of having initiated and organized disorders last April will go largely unnoticed. This to my mind would be in flagrant disregard of the outrageous accusations brought forth against the four young men by the Estonian authorities...
The EU is always very quick to judge situations happening outside the Union. When it comes to abuses committed by the member states themselves the EU is more than willing to turn a blind eye. This is what from my point of view is happening as regards all matters connected with the events surrounding the so-called Bronze soldier in Tallinn. I regard it all the more important to show presence at the trial in order to show that proceedings do not go unnoticed but that there is a public interest also from outside Estonia as to what is happening to the four men who are facing those charges...
REGNUM: In your statement, you say that there are grounds to suspect that the government itself provoked the disorders in Tallinn streets in April 2007.
It was more than obvious that the removal of the anti-fascist monument would be a provocation especially for the Russian-speaking minority to which this monument has a highly symbolic meaning. The attacks on the monument by the Estonian government had started well before the April events of last year. There were continuous proceedings to change its outlook and to gradually do away with the Bronze soldier as a relic of the anti-fascist past.
REGNUM: Aren't you afraid that Estonian politicians might accuse you of ties with the Kremlin?
This is already happening, and it does not come as a surprise to me. It is always the easiest way to try and attack somebody who does not fit into the general mainstream attitudes.
Estonia which so eagerly is working on being a modern technology society seems to have a severe lack of data protection. This is also a major problem from my point of view as regards the ongoing trial in Tallinn. The alleged evidence brought forth by the authorities seems to be based heavily on the disregard of data security standards. It is obvious that a lack of protection in this respect raises serious concern as regards the adherence to elemental privacy rights on the side of the Estonian authorities.
No real surprises here at Sahra's website
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Member of the Executive of the Left Party (DIE LINKE)
Within my party my work aims at ensuring that The Left obtains a clear-cut, unmistakable anti-capitalist party profile, that it continues to be a devout and consequent anti-war party...
...I belong to the leadership of the Communist Platform of the party and am one of the spokespersons of the solidarity movement venezuela avanza. I am also a supporting member of the youth association Left Youth ['solid].
Much more at the links...
WWII History Class for Russian School Children
MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian schoolchildren hold anti-Estonia protest
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Russian school children held a history class about World War II on Saturday outside the Estonian embassy in Moscow in a protest over the removal of a Soviet war monument from central Tallinn.
The class, which was given by a Russian war veteran, was held outdoors in a street near the embassy amid near-freezing temperatures. Around 20 children dressed in winter coats and hats attended, an AFP photographer saw.
The protest was organised by the Mishki (Teddy Bears), a children's group affiliated with the Kremlin-backed youth organisation Nashi, which has carried out numerous protests against Estonia.