Baltic Russians call for equality
"RUSSIAN RIGHTS: Entitlement to education in Russian remains a contentious issue across the Baltics"
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TALLINN - Ethnic Russian inhabitants of all three Baltic states have formulated a resolution calling for an end to discrimination and opportunities to integrate more easily.
The resolution emerged from a regional conference held in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, Aug. 29 and says that equal treatment of the 2 million Russians living across the Baltic states is the only way that relations with Russia will improve.
"The solution of real integration problems and putting a stop to discrimination against our compatriots is the basis for the normalization of international relations with Russia," the resolution states.
Delegates also asked the Russian government and businesses to take the attitude of the Baltic states toward Russians into account when considering trade deals.
Participants at the conference stressed the need to retain education in the Russian language and to popularise Russian language, literature and art. New rules are due to come into effect establishing Estonian as the only official language for instruction in elementary schools.
While the ethnic Russians in Estonia think they have it hard, Latvia is pushing harder and no longer silent about their opinions:
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An ex-Soviet state on the shores of the Baltic, Latvia has a population of 2.3 million, of whom around 60 per cent are ethnic Latvians and about 30 per cent are Russian speakers.
Many ethnic Russians, regardless of how long they’ve lived in Latvia, do not have citizenship – they have no vote and are given only ‘alien of Latvia’ passports, coloured purple in order to tell them apart from Latvians. They are seen by many Latvians as still being occupiers: ‘You are not citizens of the second sort, you are nobody,’ says Visvaldis Lacis, Latvian MP.
Oops ! Sorry 'bout that President Putin !
From Russia's RIA, "TALLINN, September 6 (RIA Novosti) - Estonia's defense minister admitted Thursday he had no evidence that cyber attacks, which hit Estonian government computers in April-May, were carried out by official Russian government agencies."
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"Of course, at the moment, I cannot state for certain that the cyber attacks were managed by the Kremlin, or other Russian government agencies," said Estonia's Defense Minister, Jaak Aaviksoo, on Estonian's Kanal 2 TV channel.
Aaviksoo compared the cyber attacks with the blockade of Estonia's Embassy in Moscow, organized by the pro-Putin Russian youth movement NASHI (OURS) in response to Estonia's decision to move a Soviet WWII monument in the country's capital, Tallinn.
"Again, it is not possible to say without doubt that orders (for the blockade) came from the Kremlin, or that, indeed, a wish was expressed for such a thing there," said Aaviksoo.
The Estonian Defense Ministry had previously stated that the IP addresses of some of the computers involved in the cyber attacks could be traced to the Russian government.
However, hackers can easily manipulate IP addresses, and any attacks from Russia may well have been the actions of lone vigilantes.
Furthermore, thousands of computers from all over the world were used in the cyber assault. Russia called accusations of its involvement "unfounded," and neither NATO nor European Commission experts were able to find any proof of official Russian government participation.
Police conclude probe into alleged riot ringleaders
Sep 06, 2007, By The Baltic Times staff and wire reports:
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TALLINN - Estonia's security police have concluded their investigation into the three leaders of the Night Vigil movement accused of co-ordinating riots last April.
The Public Prosecutor's Office is expected to send the results of the investigation to court in the next few weeks, after they have been translated into Russian, spokesperson Julia Zmarjova said.
"After that the files will be delivered to the Public Prosecutor, who expects to send the case to a court at the end of September or at the beginning of October," Zmarjova told BNS.
On April 28 security police gained permission to take Night Vigil activists Dmitri Linter (33), Maksim Reva (32) and Mark Siryk (18) into custody. Linter and Reva remain under arrest but Siryk has been released with the consent of the prosecutor.
Russia in the Estonian Press
Russia's News and Information Agency's Opinion & Analysis column writes:
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The media are avidly quoting R. Muksimov, chairman of the Russian Assembly of Lithuania, as saying that ethnic Russians should rely on the national Baltic elites rather than Russia in solving their problems. "We live in the West - this is a fact... Endless requests for Moscow's help are a thing of the past. Our leaders should be well-versed in the law - only in this case Russia, Europe, and, even more importantly, the national elites will hear our voice." (Molodezh Estonii, August 29).
Experts are criticizing the Estonian authorities for neglecting transit business, which has already sustained serious losses because of fewer shipments from Russia. "Nobody has given serious thought to improving the performance of our railroads and ports. It seems that some people are still hoping that relations with Russia will improve and the level of shipments will be restored. Experts do not see any hope for its restoration." (Postimees, September 4).
The 4-month long delay on Estonia's transit border with Russia has created a tractor-trailer park...400 trucks waiting to cross into Russia, with the last truck waiting an average of 170 hours.
Meanwhile, Estonian Railway stated that in August only 16 trains per day transit Estonian from Russia. A 50 perecent decrease from last year's rail traffic, which has led to over 200 employee lay-offs. Russia claims the drop in traffic is due redevelopment projects with the Moscow and St. Petersburg to Tallinn routes.
Estonians give Russian lessons to Brits
"Britain being the only European nation to rival Estonia for the title of Russia’s least favourite country since the controversial murder of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinienko in London."
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TALLINN - The European Union must talk frankly with Russia, Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said at a meeting with visiting British MPs, Sep. 10.
"The European Union must continue a straightforward and frank dialogue with Russia on all topics," Paet was quoted as telling the delegation of British Liberal Democratic MPs.
The minister spoke about the need to agree about the mandate for a new partnership and cooperation agreement with Russia. Paet also touched upon the topic of the proposed EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement.
Speaking about Estonian-British relations, the minister and members of the delegation led by Malcolm Bruce, chairman of the House of Commons' committee on developent aid, stressed the importance of cooperation between the country groups in the two parliaments and shared the opinion that this cooperation could be more active and contacts more numerous.
Members of the British Liberal Democrat party wanted to know about Estonia’s economy and tax system, as their party has been toying with the idea of reforming the British tax system along Estonian lines.
Memebrs of the visiting British parliamentary delegation are House of Commons members Annette Brooke, Lembit Opik (who has Estonian ancestry), John Leech and Stephen Williams, as well as Susan Thomas and Lord Dholakia from the House of Lords.
During a meeting with the Estonian parliament’s deputy chairperson, Kristiina Ojuland, and members of the Foreign Affairs Committee including chairman Sven Mikser, the British parliamentarians wanted to know Estonia's opinion as regards the developments in Russia, and the proposed Nord Stream gas pipeline.
Russia must solve border problem if it wants to join WTO
"This is not a topic of Estonia and Russia, of Finland and Russia, or of Latvia and Russia, but a topic of the European Union and trade relations," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said at a press conference on the Estonian Island of Saareemaa on Tuesday.
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Russia must solve the border crossing delays on its western frontier with the European Union if it wants to join the World Trade Organization, EU Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot said Tuesday. "If Russia wants to develop good relations with the EU, it must do everything it can to solve this border problem," Barrot told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
The border between three EU members and Russia has been plagued by long lines of freight trucks.
"If they enter the World Trade Organization, they have to respect the rules. I have to say this very clearly to (Russian Minister of Transport Igor) Levitin," Barrot said.
Barrot has been visiting Estonia and Latvia, two EU Baltic members, this week.
Long lines of freight trucks are forced to wait to cross the Latvian-Russian border on a daily basis, while than 400 trucks were waiting to cross the border on Tuesday morning in Narva, the sole checkpoint in northeastern Estonia, BNS reported on Tuesday.
Russian customs handled 85 trucks over the past 24 hours, meaning the trucks must wait for almost a week to cross the border.
The lengthy border delays are a cause of political and environmental concern. for the Baltic states.
Estonian coalition split on Russian-German pipeline
Reading through this past week's various articles promises some intrigue for Estonia and her big neighbor to the East. Russia's GAZPROM must traverse Estonian waters (I guess they only just figured that one out shortly following threats of a 40% increase in natural gas prices for Estonia).
From Forbes
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A request by Russian-German gas company Nord Stream, partially owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom, to carry out surveys in Estonian waters for a future Baltic Sea gas pipeline has caused a rift in the three-party governing coalition here.
The ministry of foreign affairs had asked 20 institutions for an opinion on the question and all have now been received.
Among them, a study compiled by Estonian Academy of Sciences is the most critical.
'Gazprom has became partly a military enterprise and we see that the pipeline poses not only ecological but also very serious security risks for Estonia,' scientist Endel Lippmaa, head of the energy council at the Academy of Scienses told AFP on Wednesday.
'Such gas pipelines under the sea have lot of sensors that can be used also for military surveillance, and no NATO country can agree (to) the chance that Russia might get such an option inside our territory.
Not to be outdone, there's the ever bitter tone from Russia's REGNUM news agency.
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“We shall only win from good relations. We want to do business to let our railways and bridges admit more goods and people from Russia,” the Estonian official said.
Another attempt of the Estonian Foreign Ministry secretary general to engage history in the current political process is counterproductive,” expert in issues of regional developments in the post-Soviet territory Sergey Artemenko said commenting on a statement made by Estonian Foreign Ministry Secretary General Matti Maasikas.
“If one continues the dialog in the categories ‘must’ or ‘must not,’ let’s speak about what Estonia must do. And Estonia must recognize a number of historical facts,” Artemenko said and added: “For instance, the conspiracy with the illegitimate Bolsheviks government in 1920 that allowed that illegitimate regime staying in power; participation of Estonians on the side of the fascist Germany in punitive actions against civilians and crimes against humanity.
The victims of Communism deserve commemoration and remembrance
We're on such good terms with Russia lately, that why not take just one more poke at them :wry:
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I am proud, extremely proud, of the Otto Tief government. In the name of democracy and freedom they met their pre-determined fate, so that no one in the future could say that Tallinn was “liberated” in September of 1944. That the flag that the Red Army tore down from Tall Hermann Tower was the Estonian blue-black-and-white, not the Nazi swastika
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves yesterday at the opening of a photo exhibition of the members of the Otto Tief government at the Bank of Estonia.
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He recalled the Atlantic Charter announced by Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill on August 14, 1941, which enumerated the principles of the Western Allies in case of their possible victory, and declared that they recognize the right of all peoples to decide their own system of government and to determine their own fate.
Seeing the fates of Estonia’s democrats, there was no difference between the Nazis and Communists, said President Ilves. “The German arrested those they could, and when the Russians arrived, they arrested them again. Neither Nazis or Communists tolerated Estonia or democracy,” he said.
“I repeat my appeal to establish an honorable memorial to the tens of thousands who were victims of Communism in Estonia. Not only to the victims of Stalinism, because this would nullify the suffering of those who were imprisoned, repressed, and persecuted between 1953 and 1988. Unfortunately, we still do not know the names of all the victims. Our job is to find out and chisel them in stone. By name.” said President Ilves.
“I know that this is a very extensive undertaking. But the victims deserve it.
Estonia Votes NO to Russian/German Gas line
Nord Stream Out of Estonia and back Into Finnish Waters.
Very little in the way of a surprise here, Estonia's government was holding out til that drop-dead day, in naive hopes Russia would at least make some concessions. The Putin regime is now just a tad more PO'd, and some fear that Putin will ensure gas outages during the Baltic's harsh winters. This will have little desired effect on Estonia, as most of the centralized heating is generated from fossil fuels.
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Estonia has refused to allow Nord Stream AG to carry out geological exploration in its territorial waters and economic zone. The official reason for the refusal is that activity might lead to the disclosure of the volume of resource reserves in Estonia, which is a state secret. Nord Stream responded that it would lay its natural gas pipeline in Finnish waters.
The Estonian cabinet came to its decision yesterday. Oddly, the Estonian Foreign Ministry had prepared a draft of a decision in favor of Nord Stream, which cited the “long-term interests of the Estonian people and state.” Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that “We decided to say no a long time ago.” Paet explained that, while the overwhelming majority of the 20 ministries and other organizations consulted for the decision were in favor of allowing the pipeline to be laid, the majority of the ministers were against it, many for openly political reasons.
It was also pointed out that the pipeline would require increased border patrols and give Russia, which would have the right to defend the pipeline with weapons, control over shipping in the Baltic Sea as well. Only the gas company, Eesti Gaas, supported the pipeline. Eesti Gaas is controlled by Gazprom and E.On.
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen stated in Tallinn last week that Finland was prepared to grant Nord Stream all necessary permits to use that country's waters.
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This one was so appropriate, I needed to add it herein. Kinda Sorta North Pole stuff, aye ?
From the Moscow Times
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Estonia became the first country on the Baltic Sea on Thursday to reject an application by Russian-German company Nord Stream to carry out work related to a planned gas pipeline.
It (Estonia) said it had the right to reject the application because the results of drilling on the continental shelf would have given information about its natural resources and their possible use.
Between occupation and a hard place: WWII anniversary splits Russia and Estonia
Russia's News and Information Agency has yet another Opinion :wry:
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MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Yelena Shesternina) - On September 22, Estonia will celebrate the Day of Resistance.
But this is not a new anniversary; for more than 60 years, it was the Day of Tallinn's Liberation from Nazi Occupation, but last March Estonian President Toomas Henrik Ilves signed amendments to the Law on Holidays and Memorable Dates.
In order to leave no doubt as to their reasons for the rechristening, the authors of the draft explained in a note that on September 22, 1944, Estonia was re-occupied by the Soviet Union rather than liberated. They wrote: "After the withdrawal of German units as a result of the Soviet onslaught, the national blue-black-white tricolor flew over the Long (sic) Hermann Tower in the Estonian capital. But on that very day, the Red Army seized Tallinn and replaced it with the red flag of the occupiers."
Former Foreign Minister Trivimi Velliste put it bluntly: "During the war, the Estonians had no other choice than to take weapons from enemy number two in order to fight enemy number one, because they did not expect any mercy from the latter."
The current Foreign Minister Urmas Paet preferred not to attend the event and tried to stave off the potential reaction from Moscow: "I hope the Russian side will not interpret this rally as another attempt to rewrite history."
But the Russian Foreign Ministry did not react this time. That is not surprising, considering that its previous notes of protest to Tallinn, against the desecration of memorials to Soviet soldiers, meetings of SS legionnaires and trials of Russian war veterans, have failed to produce any effect.
Activists gather at Estonia embassy in Moscow
The Kremlin mouth-piece Itar-Tass reports, 200 Nashi activists gathered near the Estonian embassy in central Moscow to commemorate Tallinn’s “liberation” from Nazi occupation. 22 September marks the day the Red Army captured Tallinn following a German retreat.
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MOSCOW, September 22 (Itar-Tass) - About 200 activists of the youth movement Nashi (Ours) have gathered near the Estonian embassy in central Moscow.
The authorities-sanctioned meeting marks the anniversary of the liberation of Tallinn from the Nazi invasion.
The activists wanted to put an iron tree with small bells near the embassy in memory of those who fought for Tallinn's liberation.
The meeting was calm, without incidents. Nobody was detained. Police ensured order at the meeting, the Moscow police information department told Itar-Tass.
The meeting was to last till 15:00 Moscow time.
An hour after the meeting, another action organised by Labour Russia and left forces will take place at the embassy. The organisers say the aim of the action is to express protest against the attempts to present the day of Estonia's liberation from German Nazi invaders as a day of liberation from Soviet occupation. The meeting of left forces is also sanctioned by authorities, police said.
Secret Estonian Pipeline Document Leaked
Ooops, someone let the cat outta the bag this time, and it's all over the Russian press :o
Kommersant's Article
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A copy of an Estonian Defense Ministry memorandum concerning the North European Gas Pipeline marked “for internal use only” appeared on the website of the publication Postimees yesterday. In it, the ministry complains that government agencies showed little opposition to the research of the seabed by the German-Russian Nord Stream pipeline company, forcing the country's political leadership to turn the company down. The publication of the document threatens to cause a government crisis. Estonian authorities are most concerned about how the document fell into the hands of the media, however.
In the memorandum, it is noted with disapproval that the Estonian ministers of defense, economics and foreign affairs did not express any opposition to the exploration of the seabed within the zone of Estonian economic interests until the day before the final decision on it was made. Observers say that the refusal may have been forced on the government by the nationalistically-oriented Union of the Fatherland-Republic Party, which is part of the ruling coalition in the government along with the Reform Party and Social Democratic Party.
Estonia recommends top EU official be fired
In response to recent official comments by Rene Van Der Linden, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Estonia's Parliamentary Speaker and President decided enough was enough.
A related article can be found here with EU Business News, which is copyright protected.
Van Der Linden had made a quick stop over in Russia just days before his scheduled Baltic States visit. In this interview with Russia Today, Van Der Linden heavily criticized Estonia's slow pace at granting citizenship to ethnic Russians living in Estonia and the voting rights of aliens in local elections.
In this article with Postimees, Speaker Ene Ergma referring to Van der Linden’s take on these issues, wrote:
"Your recent repeated misleading statements have created confusion and bewilderment both in the Estonian public and internationally. This leads to our request: give up spreading erroneous information about Estonia ".
The parliament speaker added that Van Der Linden's attention had been drawn to his mistakes even while he was still in Tallinn and expressed amazement that the PACE president had apparently not made any effort to correct his erroneous statements.
Even before his latest visit, Van Der Linden was widely seen as being strongly pro-Russian and received a hammering from Estonia's Daily Päevaleht reporting on Van Der Linden's family business interests in Russia.
In an interview with the Estonian newspaper Valgemaalane, President Ilves commented on yet another recent visitor, United Nations’ special discrimination rapporteur Doudou Diene, who advised that Estonia should have several official languages (in effect precluding ethnic Russians from learning Estonian to fulfill citizenship requirements).
"We don't need to pay attention to such propaganda! If Diene recommended that several official languages should be adopted in Estonia, why doesn't Germany have several official languages ? There are four million Turks there!"
"Russia has 143 million people and we have 1.3 million. It's supreme arrogance to believe that we are going to influence Russia. If there is a desire to show us as being bad, Russia will do it."
DOS spokesman pointing the finger at Russia
More on the gas pipeline between Russia's Gazprom and Germany's Nord Stream. Some welcomed US and UK support for the Baltic States, and The Ukraine.
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VILNIUS -- The first day of the Vilnius Energy conference got under way Oct. 10 with U.S. and British speakers voicing the strong criticism of Gazprom’s energy policy in the Baltic States.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Bryza. Bryza wasted no time in pointing an accusing finger at Russian energy company Gazprom, laying the blame for much of the energy insecurity fear stalking Europe at Gazprom’s door.
In a presentation that included a picture of a muscle-bound Vladimir Putin in a ‘wife beater’ T-shirt that he described as “the president of Russia crossed with Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront,” and which drew giggles from the assembled dignitaries, Riley drew attention to Gazprom’s “reputation for having shadowy daughter companies.”
“The Russian energy sector is a creation of the state. A predatory energy supplier can manipulate energy risk by threatening to cut off supply,” Jackson asserted, before warning that Russia was in effect attempting to create a series of “semi-captive” economies in Eastern Europe and calling on the U.S. and EU to look at a “massive increase in foreign aid, perhaps in a joint initiative.”
More at the link
The Nashi - Russia must keep its territories intact
"Nashi is a slick, well-funded instrument of Mr. Putin's government. It recruits members from impoverished cities and towns kilometres from Moscow and provides them with stipends and accommodation to attend rallies in the city."
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If they [opposition groups] try to damage the country in any way, all commissars would take the youth out into the streets to defend our Motherland,” she said.
If Nashi members take to the streets, it wouldn't be the first time the group called on its legion of young, largely unemployed participants to defend the country's “honour.” In the past year, Nashi has staged raucous protests at the British and Estonian embassies and harassed both countries' ambassadors.
More at the link
Jewish group teams up with Putin to defend human rights
From the Baltic Times, 12 October. The European Union has failed in the struggle against "dangerous neo-Nazi tendencies" in the Baltic countries.
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The president of the congress, Russian businessman Moshe Kantor, accused Estonia and Latvia of belittling the role of the Soviet Red Army in the “liberation” of Eastern Europe from Nazi forces. Kantor added that refusing to acknowledge the achievements of the Red Army was comparable to denying the Holocaust – a suggestion that many Jews are likely to find as distasteful as many Balts.
"The European Union does not pay the necessary attention to things taking place in Latvia and Estonia because of certain opportunistic, political reasons," Kantor said.
Kantor’s comments echo those of Russian President Vladimir Putin the previous day.
"Certain facts that we are coming across in certain East European countries are arousing frank surprise and lack of understanding,” Putin said.
“We know that in several European countries laws prohibit the denial of the Holocaust, while the activities of Latvian and Estonian authorities are openly encouraging the glorification of Nazis and their collaborators. And such facts remain unnoticed by the European Union."
Contrary to the implications of his speech, Holocaust denial is not specifically outlawed Russia as it is in Germany and Lithuania, for example.
FSB Says Spies Want to Break Up Russia
Moscow Times: Russian Federal Security Service chief Nikolai Patrushev said Western spies were working to weaken and break up the country. Patrushev also claimed that foreign spies were working to foment discontent in Russia in the run-up to December's parliamentary elections and the presidential vote next spring.
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In the interview published on Wednesday Patrushev said : "The CIA and SIS continue to attract partners from Poland, Georgia, the Baltic states and some others in their work regarding Russia." He said the activities of intelligence services from former Soviet republics in Russia were due to the fact that U.S. and British specials services have a serious influence on them.
Estonia's Security Police refused to comment.
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Estonian Security Police commissioner Irina Mikson said to Interfax on Wednesday : "The security police are not commenting on the statement of the FSB director published in Argumenty I Fakty on October 10." "We advise you to turn to the source of information," she said responding to the request to comment on Patrushev's comments concerning the Estonian special services.
The Future Calling In Estonia
16 October Washington Post - The Future Calling In Estonia by Anne Applebaum.
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From outside, the offices of Skype-- the company best known for its free Internet phone service -- don't look very different from the other Soviet and post-Soviet buildings that make up the nondescript suburbs of the Estonian capital. But inside, the aesthetic influence of Northern California is undeniable. The high-tech, open-plan offices; the "playroom," complete with pool table and sauna; the young, bearded employees; the Dadaesque plastic crocodile hanging from the ceiling; the bluejean-clad spokesman who has been "too busy" to contemplate the fact that eBay, which bought Skype for $2.6 billion in 2005, recently admitted that it paid too much.
This tiny slice of Seattle-on-the-Baltic -- Skype's main center for research and development -- is in Tallinn because Skype's original computer programmers were Estonian and its Scandinavian founders were savvy enough to know that Estonia is a country so eager to join the 21st century that even its gas stations have WiFi: Fill up your tank, download your e-mail, drive on. Despite its eagerness to join the future, though, the home of Skype can also seem, to outsiders, paradoxically hung up on the past. Indeed, this is a problem Estonia shares with some other Central European nations. Everywhere you turn, historical arguments are dominating the region's politics...
Estonian authorities linking Russia to unrest
"Estonian prosecutors on Thursday accused the Russian government of financing the riots that rocked the capital in April when authorities removed a Soviet war memorial from a downtown square."
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The finger-pointing at Moscow came as the state prosecutor's office filed charges against four activists accused of organizing the street violence in which one person was killed, dozens of businesses looted and vandalized, and nearly 1,000 people arrested.
State Prosecutor Laura Vaik said those accused — Dmitry Klensky, 61, Dmitry Linter, 33, Maxim Reva, 32, and Mark Sirok, 18 — began planning the riots in mid-2006 with backing from Moscow. It was not immediately clear how they responded to the charges.
"There is reason to believe that financial support and advice to organize mass disorders was also received from the Russian Federation," Vaik said in a statement, without giving details.
It was the strongest statement yet by Estonian authorities linking Russia to the unrest in Tallinn on April 26-28.