Russian Bronze Statue in Estonia

[Stan]

Estonian Review: 12-18 March, 2008

European Union Needs More Visible Presence in Afghanistan

Mar 14 - Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised that even though the European Union’s contribution to Afghanistan’s development and stabilisation is noteworthy, the residents of Afghanistan still know fairly little about it. The foreign minister also acknowledged that Estonia’s experience in Helmand province has proved the importance of co-operation between military and civil forces is. Co-operation with the UN, NATO, the USA, and Afghanistan are equally important for co-ordinating our strategic plans.

Poland Highly Interested in Estonia’s Cyber Defence Activities

Mar 14 - The Polish Minister of National Defence Bogdan Klich, who was in Tallinn on one-day visit, confirmed his keen interest in the development of bilateral defence co-operation to his Estonian colleague.
Issues related to air policing of the Baltic States, NATO’s collective missile defence, cyber security, European Union Battle Groups, and bilateral co-operation within the framework of the Baltic Defence College were discussed...

According to the Polish Minister of Defence, they are very interested both in Estonia’s experiences with repelling cyber attacks and proposals regarding the development of the relevant capabilities of the armed forces.

Eight Countries to Take Part in NATO Cyber Defence Centre in Estonia

Mar 17 - Eight countries will be taking part in the work of the cyber defence centre, while the posts of chief and chairman of the supervisory board will be filled by Estonians. The countries are Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Germany, Spain, Slovakia and the United States.

Much more at the link...

[Tom Odom]

Welcome back mate!

Estonian Review: 12-18 March, 2008



Much more at the link...

[Ken White]

Well, not too badly, anyhow...

Welcome back.

[Stan]

Welcome back mate!

Thanks, Tom !

Well, not too badly, anyhow...

Welcome back.

Well, Ken, after the death threats, canceled credit cards, rhetoric...It was time to return and give you folks something to do

Regards, Stan

[Stan]

RIA Novosti - Opinion & Analysis

Observers believe that the strong dependence of Estonia's Russian speakers on Russian television is dangerous for Estonian society because it is further splitting the country along ethnic lines. "The [Estonian] Human Development Report points out that 93% of Estonia's Russian speakers watch Russian TV channels, and 68% of them read Russian newspapers published in Estonia... A feeling of solidarity and mutual confidence are relatively week in Estonia; mistrust has grown after last April's events [transfer of the Bronze Soldier statue]." (Eesti Paevaleht, March 18).

Commentators are linking Washington's reserved reaction to Beijing's suppression of massive protests in Lhasa (Tibet) with Kosovo's recent precedent. They believe that Moscow may derive some benefits from these events. "The Kremlin is silent for the time being, but Russian television channels are backing Tibet. This is not surprising because in this way it is possible to cut Washington to size for recognizing Kosovo's independence and at the same time instigate Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transdnestr. It is no secret that the Kremlin is always pleased to hear Beijing being criticized for its treatment of national minorities because in this case, Russia is not blamed for events in Chechnya and violations of human rights against its own ethnic minorities... Now big countries have to keep their mouth shut on the status of democracy in Russia." (Parnu Postimees, March 18).

[Ron Humphrey]

Hope you gave the credit cards and death threats their due diligence and response

[Stan]

Hey Ron !
I intended all along to die in debt and normally prefer bomb threats (at least you know what to look for) over death threats

Hope you gave the credit cards and death threats their due diligence and response

[kaur]

Little history lesson.

How the Russians Turned into the Image of the "National Enemy" of the Estonians.

http://www.erm.ee/pdf/pro19/mertelsmann.pdf

[Stan]

TALLINN - The Night Watch movement of Russian-speaking young people in Estonia wishes to stage a public meeting on the anniversary of the riots that broke out in connection with the relocation of the Soviet soldier monument last April.

Activists Sergei Tydoyakov and Pyotr Pushkarnyi have filed an application with the city government to hold a meeting of several hours' duration on the afternoon of April 26.

The meeting would take place in Hirvepark and according to organizers its purpose would be to defend democratic values in present-day Estonia.

The Tallinn city government already has registered a number of public rallies for April 26 and 27 in what are seen as sensitive locations of the capital city.

Meetings are slated to be held in front of the parliament, at Harjumagi next to Freedom Square, in Kaarli boulevard, in front of the National Library and on the sidewalk next to the Kaarli Church facing Tonismagi, or places near the spot where the so-called Bronze Soldier used to stand until last spring, to promote various initiatives concerning amateur sports, quitting of smoking and clearing of roadsides of litter.

[Stan]

The Estonian Foreign Ministry is getting ready to replace their Ambassador to Russia. Marina Kaljurand hasn’t worked in Moscow for three years, but she is mostly associated with among other things, last year’s clashes initiated by moving the Soviet Bronze Soldier Monument.

Kaur, anything more to this ?

The climax of Marina Kaljurand’s activities in Moscow was past year’s events, when Tallinn moved the bronze statue of the WW2 Red Army Soldier from downtown to a military cemetery in the suburbs and quite a few youth movements of Russia called Ms Kaljurand the symbol of fascist regime of Estonia. Her car was attacked by the youth but the ambassador manifested the courage and rigidity.

Meanwhile in Tallinn, they have apparently decided to aim at warmer relations with Moscow, as the Bronze Soldier's conflict stripped the country’s economy off up to 40-percent of the budget revenues. The first move en route to improvement could be replacing the ambassador, who inspires negative thoughts in Russia.

People in Estonia’s Foreign Ministry hope that a new ambassador will work in totally different conditions in Russia. The standing of the Kremlin became clear after then Russia’s Ambassador to Latvia Viktor Kalyuzhny declared the change of the attitude to the Baltic States past fall. “The Kremlin will be working not with the opposition but rather with current authorities,” Kalyuzhny vowed.

[Stan]

Russia's Pravda quotes The Economist "If you look at the Google Earth map and follow the route A-212 to the west of the Russian town Pskov, you'll notice a secret Russian military base not far from the border with Estonia."

The Economist magazine states that six years ago the place where today the base stands was empty. The magazine also states that this object isn’t listed in any catalogs. This means that the base was built recently.

“Take into consideration the fact that sputnik Inmarsat, that Russian base is to monitor, may receive information concerning Estonia, NATO and the EU, and you’ll understand that the issue might become quite urgent”, - says the Estonian newspaper Postimees in reference to ETV24.

The authors of the investigation think that military base belongs to Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information.

When the authors tried to track where the shadow of the dish’s northern border leads to, they found it was the island of Gogland in the Gulf of Finland. The island is 33 miles away from Estonia and 24 miles away from Finland.

The Estonian authorities announced that Russian defense campaign will lead to “increased tension between the countries”.

Estonia's Chief of Staff thinks the reason for the radar installation is just a “visible side of the iceberg”. “The main purpose of the radar to show Russia’s presence in the Gulf of Finland and to enhance security to the Nord Stream gas line”.

[Stan]

Joint Declaration of the Presidents of the Republic of Poland and the Republic of Estonia

Communism, a system entailing massive crimes against humanity and wide-scale violations of human rights has not yet received the full assessment of its extent and its lingering effect on Europe to this day. Historians have calculated that 100 million human beings have perished under communist regimes.

It dominated the lives and destinies of 120 million current citizens of the European Union. Few, if any, of those responsible have been brought to justice. Crimes like the Katyn killing of Polish officers, mass deportations from the Baltic states, the creation and operation of the Gulag or the man-made famine in Ukraine, the imprisonment of people who today are leading citizens of Europe, the denial of fundamental rights of freedom, of expression, speech, movement and many others have been neither properly investigated nor internationally assessed.

We propose to create an international commission to investigate communist crimes in Europe. We call upon European states to come together to create such an institution, appointing internationally recognized Europeans – respected scholars, senior politicians and others – to ensure that such an undertaking enjoys the trust and respect that is the sine qua non of any commission tasked to study such a difficult issue. The aim of such a commission should not be to condemn or pass judgment on individuals, for it would not be a court; the aim should be to illuminate what was done to a quarter of the citizens of Europe, to pass judgment on the system, whose long-lasting effects are with us even today.

Only in this way can we heal the remaining scars that even today divide us.

[Stan]

Ethnic and political conflicts have almost become a way of life in the Baltics. The three former Soviet republics that have now joined the European Union are taking drastic action to assert their nationalism. (110 sec./4.23Mb, shows: 12)

[Stan]

Soviet soldiers monument in Estonia desecrated

One more monument to Soviet soldiers, who died during World War II – a common grave of Soviet soldiers in the village of Kyulitse, in the southern part of the republic – has been desecrated in Estonia.

This was found out during the spring campaign for putting in order monuments and graves of the war times, held by activists of the Union of Russian Compatriots. According to Gennady Sukhov, a member of the Coordinating Council of the Union, the activists found traces of paint on the monument, with which someone tried to paint out the inscription on it.

The activists washed the monument and cleared the territory around it. The Russian consulate and the local administration were informed of the incident.

[Stan]

Estonia-Russian relations improving

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet "In recent months our relations have been gradually improving"

He named an agreement on cultural cooperation signed a few months ago, as well as festivities to mark the 90th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia in Moscow as examples of further cooperation.

The minister added that right now technical preparation of agreements between the two countries is going on, specifically mentioning agreements on rescue at sea and on social insurance.

Commenting on the increase in the number of residents taking Russian citizenship in Estonia, Paet said that he doesn't like when people who live in Estonia and have decided to stay here apply for another country's citizenship.

"It would be natural and normal if the people who live in Estonia had Estonian citizenship, and namely that is our goal," he said.

The minister added that despite the certain improvement in relations, Russia's behavior toward Estonia cannot be regarded as friendly.

"On the one hand we're being criticized on the topic of national minorities, whereas on the other hand one's talking about offering free entry to Russia for non-citizens, thus creating a paradoxical situation where non-citizens have big advantages over citizens," Paet said.

Metropolitan Kornili, head of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, has said that a cross of reconciliation should be erected in the place of the Soviet Soldiers monument.

"Why not erect a cross for soldiers killed on the battlefield? The war was horrible indeed. Estonians, the same people, fought on both sides. No matter how it was, a cross will always reconciliate.”

[Stan]

President Ilves speaking at the Institute of European Affairs in Dublin...
Estonia goes cyber "thanks" to occupation

In Estonia today, 66 percent of the population uses the Internet, and more than half of households have a home computer, 90 percent of which are connected to the Internet.

The audience was very interested in Estonia's experiences with conducting e-elections and in the use of ID cards, as well as the possibility of using the e-tax board environment to file tax declarations.

"Although an e-country has clear benefits -- savings in time and human resources, and the reduction of corruption -- there are also great risks," the president noted.

Estonia has not experienced any serious system errors, but last year it experienced a massive and coordinated cyber attack against the country with the goal of crippling the work of state institutions, banks and information channels, in order to destabilize the situation in the country, Ilves said.

The attacks came as a rebellion by those who were angered by the removal of Soviet war memorial.

Today, a NATO cyber security center is being established in Estonia, and European Union legislation to combat cyber crime and cyber attacks will also be planned as soon as possible, he said.

[Stan]

The Moscow Times Opinion by By Boris Kagarlitsky

"How interesting!"

These were the words of an airport security officer as he lifted a folder from my suitcase printed with the name of a conference titled, "Fascism: Familiar Enemy or New Threat?" He opened the folder, hoping to read its contents, but he was a bit disappointed to learn that I was only using the folder to hold miscellaneous papers.

"What do you think -- is there really a fascist threat?" he asked me.

I mentioned several racially motivated killings in Russia, but that did not interest him much.

"Sure, those things happen," he said. "But take a look at the Baltic countries! They deny ethnic Russians their civil rights and close down their schools. Or Ukraine," he continued. "That's even worse. They're planning to join NATO. I stay up all night thinking about this."

Exactly the same kinds of ethical norms prevail among the ruling elite in Moscow and Kiev. If the Kremlin had sufficient resources, it would not hesitate to create a NATO-like organization among former Soviet republics. Unfortunately, Moscow doesn't have the financial resources or the regional influence to do this, and this is why the Kremlin is so jealous of the United States' powerful leadership role in NATO.

But every dark cloud has its silver lining. Moscow's failure to halt NATO expansion might eventually prompt at least a few Foreign Ministry officials to seek allies in the West, including those from the anti-war movement. Even Soviet leaders understood this. Despite their "totalitarian" nature, they did a better job of finding a common ground with the West than the current leaders. In the end, it will be difficult to win the sympathies of European pacifists with imperial rhetoric and threats to "waste the terrorists in the outhouse."

[Stan]

TALLINN- In the days before the anniversary of the May riots, Estonians are looking back at how much they have suffered.

Russia has boycotted most if not all of Estonian goods in the last year, causing the smaller country fairly drastic results. Many people on both sides are quick to point fingers, but experts in the industry say that misunderstandings are at the heart of the problem.

The port of Tallinn reported losses of 13 percent as coal cargo from Russia was diverted to other ports.

Tourism is also down about 18 percent this year... People in Russia were afraid and confused about what was happening here..."

Estonian Ambassador Marina Kaljurand was quoted as saying that there is still a lack of trust and respect with regards to Russian Estonian relations, but hopefully things will get better under new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev.

[Stan]

A bit of history, more rhetoric from the ethnic Russians and absurd conclusions. As a foreigner here now 13 years, I had to negotiate all the Bureaucratic bungling and also be tested. To live here for 50 years and not able to utter a word of Estonian is pathetic. While these folks claim to be on the way 'home', they've recently found that Russians considered these folks mere expatriates, and have little desire to see them in Mother Russia.

Their status has long been a source of contention with Russia, and relations soured overtly after April last year when Estonia moved a Soviet-era Red Army war memorial, sparking riots in the capital Tallinn and anger in Moscow. Saying Estonia's action showed disrespect to the fighters of fascism, Russia retaliated with steps that dampened trade flows and knocked Estonia's economy.

INTEGRATION FAILED?

Amid the tensions with Russia and continual debate about Russian-speakers at home, some people feel the country's goal of integrating Russian speakers has failed. "The Russian language community in Estonia is a completely independent, amorphous group of people, not active," said Sergei Stepanov, editor of the Narvskaya Gazeta newspaper in Narva.

He said the state had effectively discarded such people, leaving them in their own world, watching news from Russia itself, reading Russian websites and not engaging with Estonia.

Integration Minister Urve Palo, speaking in her office in the picturesque Old Town in the heart of Tallinn, is less bleak. "People tend to think that the April crisis showed that we have failed in integration," she said, but noted that last year's protests only drew 2,000 Russian-speakers, or a total of about 3,000 if Estonian youths were included.

"Not everybody lives separately. Of course there are people who are not interested in each other.

She said the government had recently adopted a new integration program that would further efforts to reduce the number of non-citizens. "I don't think they (people with Russian citizenship) are against Estonia," she added.

[Stan]

TALLINN. May 5 (Interfax) On the dock are leaders and activists of the Nightwatch public movement campaigning for protection of the monument to Soviet soldiers who liberated Tallinn from the Nazis.

European MPs Tatyana Zhdanok from Latvia and Zahra Wagenknecht from
Germany who were at the trial said that the case is political, though it
is seen as criminal in Estonia.