EstoNews
for the week ending Friday 23. September 2016
Issue # 98
by Aavo Harju
✔ NB! The first round of the Estonian presidential election (electoral college) will be at the Estonia Concert Hall on Saturday, 24. September, at 12 noon (5 am New York time). The candidate who receives the simple majority of votes from the total number of votes will be elected president.
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✔ Valimiskogu valib laupäeval Eestile uut presidenti.
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- Is a 21st Century Soviet-style KGB in the works?
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- The Duma election: landslide victory, with low turnout, and ballot stuffing.
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Friday 23. September
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✔ ETV Presidendiväitluse Otseblogi
(ERR)
"Valimiskogu valib laupäeval Eestile uut presidenti."
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✔ Estonian Natl Electoral Committee registers presidential candidates for electoral college
(Postimees)
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- Candidates on Estonia's Russian-speaking population: Important to meet, discuss, listen
(ERR)
- Estonia Declines Moscow’s Invitation for Security Talks
(ABCNews)
- Students built floating structures in Soomaa National Park
(Calvert Journal | DesignBoom | Tumbler)
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- Estonia is so much more than a cruise ship destination
(KCW Today - Uk)
- 77 Years Ago This Week, Nazi and Soviet Forces Celebrated Their Joint Defeat of Poland
(Paul Goble)
"As one Russian commentator put it, 'in Soviet history there were many disgraceful and shameful ages, which Soviet historians never acknowledged officially. One of these shameful pages was the Soviet-Fascist parade in Brest after the joint seizure of Poland. That action became possible thanks to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact ...”
- Soviet Hippies: 1970s Estonian Psychedelic Underground Culture
(Volteface | Red Gallery)
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- Off Topic Fun: 5 things you should know before going to Oktoberfest
(Deutsche Well)
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- New Jersey ajalehe teatel võlgneb Eesti suure osa IT-edust president Ilvese matemaatikaõpetajale
(Delfi)
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- Estonian president visits his old school in Leonia, New Jersey
(North Jersey,com | NJ,com)
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- Interview with Marina Kaljurand
(ERR)
“On taxes, corruption, the justice system, and refugee policy.”
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- Presidentivalimiste Debatt
(Postimees video)
- Russian border guards detain Estonian boat on Lake Peipsi
(ERR)
“On the same evening, the men and their boat were handed over to the border guards of Estonia's Mustvee Border Guard Station. The two men, who were fined by the Russian border guards before being returned home on the same evening, stated that their illegal border crossing was the result of a navigational mistake.”
- Estonia in top 5 'fittest countries'
(Science Daily | Global News)
[The study was published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.]
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- EU planning to massively increase border controls.
(Deutsche Welle)
"Similar to the US system, travelers who don't need a visa for the EU will be required to register online. A fee will be charged for the process; according to EU officials, it could be anywhere between 13 and 50 euros ($15 and $56). Based on the current 30 million travelers from non-EU countries who do not need a visa, that would create income of between 390 million to 1.5 billion euros per year. … Starting in 2020, every entry and exit will be saved in a databank.”
- The Dangers of the Putin-Trump Relationship
(The Atlantic)
"In the past three or four years, especially in Ukraine and Syria, Putin has been more aggressive and adversarial than he or any Russian leader before him has been in the 25 years since the fall of the Soviet Union. How to confront and constrain Putin’s bellicosity and expansionism—while hopefully preventing the rise of a full-on second Cold War—is one of the hardest and most important foreign policy challenges of our day. Praising Putin and saying that he’s a great leader—as Trump has consistently done and continues to do—is exactly the opposite of what we need our next president to do.”
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- Website mentioned in the article:
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- Trump Gives Ukraine Cold Shoulder in New York
(Foreign Policy)
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- Ukrainians Fear President Trump Will End Their Freedom
(The Daily Beast)
“What if Trump is president of the United States and Putin decides to show what Trump calls admirable leadership by seizing all the territories he wants in the near abroad of Russia? Nobody here has any confidence Trump would stand in Putin’s way.”
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- Eesti vastab Vene kaitseministeeriumi kutsele eitavalt
(ERR)
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- Estonia declines Russian invitation to Moscow for bilateral defense talks
- Ühendkuningriik kaalub raskesoomusüksuse saatmist Eestisse
(Postimees)
- The Ghosts of Soviets Past: Unearthing the Memory of Occupation in Estonia
(War on the Rocks)
" In December 2015, two Army intelligence officers set out on a trip to explore the mysterious remnants of the Soviet Union in the Baltic States. This article is the third in a series detailing their journey.”
- From Estonia, lessons for the Age of Cyberwar
(Christian Science Monitor)
“As a growing number of digital attacks hit countries’ most critical systems, from hospitals to electric utilities to voting infrastructure, Estonia has become a critical voice and an important model when it comes to preparing for escalating conflict in cyberspace."
- Estonia’s President Wants Some Of His Fellow Leaders To End ‘Naïveté' Toward Russia
(Buzzfeed)
“When asked if he was concerned that the series of threats facing the EU could undermine its existence, Ilves turned the question around: “When I sit there in Europe and read what one of your presidential candidates says, I think, is the United States going to exist?”
- The Rise of a Young Lithuanian Maestro
(The New Yorker)
“Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla will make her New York début conducting the Juilliard Orchestra.”
- Russian intelligence sends a message
(Define the New Europe)
“… reports are coming in that Russian intelligence services have begun to operate aggressively and openly in Sweden …”
- Starship robots try out deliveries on SF sidewalks
(San Francisco Chronicle)
"It was a test of robot couriers from Starship Technologies, an Estonian company that’s among several contenders seeking to crack the last-mile challenge — getting goods from warehouses or retail storefronts to homes. While Amazon is testing deliveries with flying drones, Starship is one of many upstarts trying a more earthbound approach. Heinla, its CEO, started the company with Skype co-founder Janus Friis after entering a NASA contest to build robots to collect rock samples on Mars and the moon."
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- Marina Kaljurand esitati ametlikult presidendikandidaadiks
(Võrumaa Teataja)
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- Intervjuu: Presidendikandidaat Marina Kaljurand
(Vikerradio - ERR)
[Varasemad saated teiste kandidaatidega on kah olemas.]
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- Kaljurannal on ülinapp edumaa Kallase ees
(ERR)
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- Kaljurand has slightest lead over Kallas among electors
(ERR)
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- Social Democrats to support Kaljurand in electoral college
(Postimees)
- Ilves: USA orjuse juttu ajavad need, kes ei taha Eesti iseseisvust
(Postimees)
"See on pärit kokteilist, kus on üks osa unustamist, üks osa lihtsameelsust ja üks osa tänase maailma mittemõistmist.”
- Arvamus: Trumpil on NATO osas ühes asjas õigus, aga see sõnum tuleks saata Saksamaale, mitte Eestile
(Postimees)
- Estonia’s next president should aspire to global cyber security leadership
(Estonian World)
“When Estonia speaks about cyber security, many countries care and listen.”
- A young Estonian entrepreneur hopes to take security and online identity verification to the next level
(ZDNet)
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- NATO’s Baltic Deterrent Force to Be in Place by May 2017
(WSJ - log in may be required)
"Gen. Pavel said the new NATO force in the Baltic is likely to be overseen by a Polish division headquarters that is supplemented by international officers. U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the top NATO commander, will have ultimate control of the new NATO force.”
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- Finland, the Baltic States and Security
(Diplomaatia)
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- Soome, Baltimaad ja julgeolek
(Diplomaatia)
- Rootsi saatis Gotlandile väed info põhjal, mis osutas Venemaa ohule
(ERR)
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- Rumor: Did a Russian 'threat' lead to Swedish troops on Gotland?
(Local se)
“Something has happened in the intelligence picture, but we citizens don’t know what. We can see the effects of it however. The rapid basing of a unit on Gotland is exceptional."
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- Gotland Island, the Baltic Sea’s Weak Link
(World Affairs Journal - January 2015)
[Good background article.]
- 11,000 Russian citizens cast State Duma votes in Estonia
(ERR | Baltic Times)
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- 13,560 Latvian-resident Russian citizens voted in Latvia
(Latvian Broadcasting)
"Just over a quarter of Latvia's approximately 53,000 Russian citizens voted in Duma elections …"
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- A 21st Century KGB?
Original article in Russian:
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✔ Is Putin about to Revive the KGB or is He Again Only Testing the Waters?
(Paul Goble)
"The “Kommersant” story is detailed but based on unnamed sources and posits that discussions about the creation of such a new-old security arrangement are to be completed and put in place before prior to the next presidential election in Russia now scheduled for 2018."
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“… in July 2004, that is more than twelve years ago, Lenta.ru reported, citing an article on the Gazeta.ru portal that “the FSB is being combined with the SVR and FSO and will get a new name. … The 2004 story, (Aleksey) Kaftan says, was clearly “a trial balloon” to see how “society would react.”
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"It is at least possible that what “Kommersant” has done is launched another “trial balloon” for the Kremlin … And that points to a broader conclusion, Kaftan suggests, by putting out these trial balloons and then not acting immediately and then later trying again and implementing such ideas, the Kremlin is making Russia “ready for totalitarianism.”
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✔ Putin Has Finally Reincarnated the KGB
(Foreign Policy)
“The Soviet Union’s most infamous spy agency is back in all but name.”
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✔ Russia to create a Ministry of State Security (MGB)
(Meduza | Moscow Times | Deutsche Welle)
"Russian authorities are planning to create a new power structure that will assume both the functions of the country's security service - the FSB - and its Foreign Intelligence Service … these developments will give the FSB the same functions that were previously held by the KGB.”
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✔ Venemaa loob FSB põhjal riikliku julgeoleku ministeeriumi (MGB)
(ERR)
"Kommersandi teatel on raha leidmine uue ministeeriumi jaoks Kremli suuremaid takistusi. Riikliku julgeolekuministeeriumi loomine on kavandatud 2018. aasta presidendivalimiste eelsesse aega, ent eelarvepiirangud muudavad selle keeruliseks.”
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✔ Commentary: 'New KGB' plans betray Putin's anxiety
(ECFR - Mark Galeotti)
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✔ Putin might come to regret it
(VOX - Mark Galeotti)
“Putin will be creating an agency that could ultimately come to challenge his quasi-dictatorial rule."
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✔ Whom Does Putin Trust?
(RFERL - Brian Whitmore)
“Whoever ends up heading the MGB will have power potentially rivaling that of the president himself.”
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"Whom Putin entrusts with this power will be very telling at a time when the Kremlin leader has been tossing his old pals under the bus and becoming increasingly isolated …”
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✔ Podcast: Putin’s Sword And Shield
(RFERL)
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- 2016 Duma elections -
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- Crushing Victory, Low Turnout - Six Russian Election Takeaways
(RFERL)
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- Five More Bellwether Duma Election Stories
(Paul Goble)
"The Putin regime has once again carried out perfectly Soviet style elections, something that the Russian people by refusing to take part showed they understand far better than do the Russian liberal elites who still think they can achieve something by working with the Kremlin, US-based Russian historian Irina Pavlova says. The people recognize as the elites do not that elections like so much in the Putin era are fake and irrelevant to their lives.”
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- Russian elections: What we learned
(BBC | Reuters | Politico-EU)
"The party founded by Vladimir Putin now controls over three quarters of the seats in parliament, giving it the power to change any law or the constitution.”
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“They did everything [so] that people would ignore the elections, from holding them just after the summer break, to the most low-key election campaign I can remember.” - political expert Grigorii Golosov.
http://www.politico.eu/article/russias-election-free-sausages-and-fraud-allegations-parliament-vote/
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- Russia stays loyal to Kremlin in election with record low turnout
(The Guardian)
"Turnout in the election was just 47%, the lowest in the history of modern Russia."
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- Ühtne Venemaa võttis duumavalimistel 343 mandaadiga põhiseadusliku enamuse
(ERR)
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- Russia’s Election: Every Choice was a Bad One
(The New Yorker)
"Opposition activists who had spent the day working as observers lamented wasted time. Some bloggers lamented going to the trouble of voting. It seemed they had been conned into playing bit parts in Putin’s bad theatre—again.”
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- Why the Kremlin's big win in Russian elections may not be a victory
(Christian Science Monitor)
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- Opinion: Clear voter fraud in Russia
(Deutsche Welle)
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- Russian Monitors Report 3,600 Violations at Elections
(Newsweek)
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- Numbers Don’t Lie: Statistics Point To Massive Fraud In Russia’s Duma Vote
(RFERL)
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- Polling station data from Saratov Region shows signs of ballot stuffing
(Meduza)
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