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02 December, 2016


✔ Toomas Hendrik Ilvese ja Ieva Ilvese perre sündis poeg  
Toomas and Ieva have a new baby boy - Hans Hendrik Ilves

✔ Kaitsevägi kutsus kokku esimese välkõppuse
Estonian defense forces stage snap reserve exercise

✔ Tšornobõli ohtlik reaktor sai 100 aastaks uue katte
A new cover for the Chernobyl sarcophagus



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Friday 2. December
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- President Kaljulaid: Baltics are not afraid of migrants or Russians
(Estonian World | BNN)
“In the first case, we are calmly carrying out the relocation programme agreed between EU member states. Refugees are arriving in Estonia every month and we are working hard to integrate them into Estonian society.”
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"As to Russia, the president says, “we are aware of our geographic location and under no illusions about our neighbour. Yet we are no more concerned than other allies and like-minded partners in Europe. Security is indivisible, be it in the east of Europe or in the south. Moreover, we are not just consumers, but proud providers of security in various parts of the world where people have faced and still face real dangers.”
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- Naljaloo: "Trump Helistab Kaljulaidale"
(Postimees video)
Näitlejad: Raivo Tamm ja Hilje Murel



- Everyone in Europe Needs to Take a Deep, Calming Breath
 by Toomas Hendrik Ilves
(Foreign Policy - 18. November)
"Trump’s statements have, in effect, served as a sort of journalistic Rorschach test. A good amount of ink, for instance, has been used up on scare stories about the fate of the Baltics. But why look to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania when a candidate says he will look at whether NATO countries pay their share? Estonia, as mentioned, is one of the very few that does. Latvia and Lithuania are committed to 2 percent by 2018. To instantly sound the alarm over the Baltic countries in response to Trump’s words reflects more about the worldview of various publications than the reality of what was said.” 
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- Ilves: Baltics should be more worried about EU collapse than transatlantic relations
(The Baltic Times)



- A NATO-Agenda for President Elect Trump
(Real Clear Defense - by Ian Brzezinski)
"Upon taking the reins of the U.S. government, the new U.S. president will encounter an Alliance that has begun to transform its mindset and capabilities with the aim of better addressing the challenges posed by Russia and the crises affecting, directly and indirectly, Alliance interests in regions neighboring and well beyond the North Atlantic area."
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- Mattisega heades suhetes olev Laaneots: ta teab hästi Eesti olukorda
(ERR)
"Riigikogu riigikaitse komisjoni liige, erukindral Ants Laaneots (RE), kes on heades suhetes Donald Trumpi võimaliku kaitseministri James Mattisega, ütles, et tegemist oleks Eesti jaoks hea valikuga, sest Mattis on siinse olukorraga hästi kursis."
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- Trump to Nominate Retired Gen. James Mattis to Lead Pentagon
(ABCNews | Foreign Policy)
[‘Mad Dog’ Mattis will be good for Eesti according to Ants Laaneots.]
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Thursday 1. December

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✔ Kaitsevägi kutsus kokku esimese välkõppuse | Estonian defense forces stage snap reserve exercise 
(ERR | Eesti Kaitsevägi | Delfi | Postimees)
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“… exercise is codenamed Okas (Hedgehog Quill) …"
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- Russian ‘Provocation’ Risk Irks Estonia
(Bloomberg - Ott Ummelas)
"Instability in the Baltic region has risen because of the growing aggressiveness of Russia’s regime over several years.”
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- Lithuania: Civilians fearing Russian attack train for worst
(AP)
"Whether the danger is real or just bluster remains to be seen. But in Lithuania, a country that experienced a Russian occupation before, some people aren't waiting to find out."
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- Latvia: Keep calm but keep allies and weapons close
(Deutsche Welles)
"The Latvian parliament passed a budget that will see the country's spending on defense rise from 1.4 percent of GDP this year to 1.7 percent next year and then up to the magic NATO number of 2 percent in 2018."
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- Finland: Support for Nato membership still low
(Yle)
"Finnish support for joining Nato almost unchanged at 25 percent. There has, however, been a big increase in the proportion of those surveyed who see Russia as a negative influence in Finnish society."
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- Ukraine: Preparing for Trump
(Foreign Affairs)
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- Poland: Preparing for Trump
(Carnegie Europe)





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Wednesday 30. November
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- Near The Russian Border, U.S. And NATO Beef Up Their Presence
(NPR)
[Audio report from Tapa, Estonia.]



- Intervjuu: Siseministeeriumi asekantsler Erkki Koort
(ERR)
"Sõda on meile geograafiliselt lähemal, kui ta kõikide stsenaariumite osas võiks olla, ilma et ta puudutaks NATO või Euroopa Liidu territooriumi."



- Arvamus: Kui läheb Narva, kas siis ka Eesti?
(Postimees)
"Narva on ju omamoodi eksperiment, katse luua ilma eestlasteta Eestit. See on raske, aga siiski mitte lootusetu ettevõtmine …"



- On 75th Anniversary of Winter War, Finns Fear Moscow May Use Ukrainian Scenario against Them
(Paul Goble)
 "For Finns, the Winter War remains the defining event of their national life in the 20th century, a continuing reminder of the threat Russia poses to their country, of the need for caution in dealing with Moscow, and of the ways in which they were able by dint of hard fighting to prevent Stalin from annexing it to the Soviet Union."




- EU: French Election Hints at a European Shift Toward Russia
(ECFR | New York Times)
"François Fillon has just won the French conservative primaries by a huge margin. Now, he will be trying to capitalise on the momentum he has gained from his win to deliver the result he wants in the upcoming presidential election. And with his foreign policy option, this presidential vote will pose a formidable challenge to Europe’s unity. Fillon’s views on Russia, in particular, fly in the face of the current European consensus."




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Tuesday 29.November
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- Kindralleitnant Terras: sõda ei ole kunagi ilus
(ERR)



- Interview: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sven Mikser
(Postimees)
“… while President Putin might try and test the red line in the Baltic region, the provocation can be prevented in allied cooperation."



- Estonian Troops Have Never Fought a Cold War - Thanks to Pop-Up Saunas
(Wall Street Journal - subscription)
"Saunas are marched into war zones …"



- Is It Prudent or Paranoid to Worry about Russia’s Influence in the Baltics?
(Atlantic Council)



- Trump ja May rääkisid teises telefonikõnes NATO tähtsusest
(ERR)
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- Trump and May 'agree on importance of Nato' in second phone call
(The Guardian)
"Exchange between US president-elect and PM seen as significant after his scepticism about alliance during election campaign."



✔ Tšornobõli ohtlik reaktor sai 100 aastaks uue katte
(Postimees)
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✔ Ukraine: A new cover for the Chernobyl sarcophagus
(RFERL video | Deutsche Welle)
"A new radiation cover for the Chernobyl reactor ruin will be officially put into service today, after six years of construction. The building is designed to contain and eventually aid the removal of radioactive debris.”
--





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Monday 28. November
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- What Trump Means for Central and Eastern Europe
(The Atlantic)
"Like many security officials in the region, Jonatan Vseviov, permanent secretary of the Estonian ministry of defense, was circumspect. “Every campaign is heated. I’m sure it’s going to be fine,” he said, echoing a now-common sentiment across Eastern Europe. “There is no causal relationship, necessarily, between relations between the U.S. and Russia, and Baltic security. I don’t think we live in that simple a world,” he said. “We live in a region that is very stable, but where stability can turn into instability relatively fast.”



- Lauri Mälksoo: kui Venemaad tabab tõsine kitsikus, on neil lihtne naabreid süüdistada
(Eesti Päevaleht - subscription)
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- Book Review: Russian Approaches to International Law
by Lauri Mälksoo
"The book addresses a simple question: how do Russians understand international law?"


- Lt. Gen. James F. Fretterd, Former Maryland National Guard head, dies at 86
(Baltimore Sun)
Among his many accomplishments: “… established a partnership with Estonia in which Estonian troops would spend time training in Maryland, and Maryland Guard members would do the same in Estonia. He chose the Baltic nation because its capital, Tallinn, had a port similar to Baltimore's. Maryland later designated Tallinn a sister city of Annapolis in 1999."



- Toomas Hendrik Ilvese ja Ieva Ilvese perre sündis poeg
(ERR)
"Hans Hendrik Ilves"



- The Longer Russia Occupies Crimea, the More Likely Russia Will Disintegrate
(Window on Eurasia)
“(… in the late 1940s) Lavrenty Beria, Stalin’s notorious secret police chief, quietly explored the idea of allowing the Baltic countries to go their own way as Soviet-controlled “peoples republics” like the East Europeans outside of the USSR. Beria went so far as to have his agents contact Baltic officials to compose lists of who might be the senior officials in such nominally independent countries, and he certainly believed that allowing Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to go their own way in this limited sense would ease East-West tensions sufficiently to undercut American plans for NATO."
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  "At least some in Putin’s Moscow today know this record and recognize the dangers involved in holding on to Crimea …"
or



- Stalinistlik maja
(Delfi - 18. November)





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- Russia -
“Trust No One"
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- Baker’s Dozen of Neglected Russian Stories
(Paul Goble)



- A Subdued Putin Calls for ‘Mutually Beneficial’ Ties With U.S.
(Reuters | Deutsche Welle | New York Times)
"We don't want confrontation with anyone. We don't need it. We are not seeking and have never sought enemies. We need friends."
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"His annual address blamed Russia's economic woes on domestic issues rather than international sanctions. … Putin referenced Russia's upcoming anniversary of the 1917 revolution to call for national unity. "It's inadmissible to bring divisions, malice, resentment and bitterness of the past into our life today," he said.”
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"Mr. Putin’s mixing of pointed reminders of Russia’s status as a nuclear power with a measured expression of hope for an end to the current deep chill in relations with Washington contrasted sharply with the unalloyed glee expressed by many Russian politicians and commentators after Mr. Trump’s election victory."
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- Putin süüdistab majanduse pidurdumises Venemaa siseprobleeme
(Postimees)



- How Russian Propaganda Really Works in the West
(Bloomberg - Leonid Bershidsky)
"Russian government propaganda … is woefully misunderstood. … RT and Sputnik are lavishly funded. RT's 2016 budget, according to the channel itself, is $247 million. As far as alternative media goes, RT is the 800-pound gorilla. It can pay lavish fees to contributors, shoot professional video anywhere in the world, pay for professional-looking reporting. The Russian state product is attractively packaged and free. The effect, of course, is that the "crazies" that populate the alternative news sphere, those dismissed by the mainstream, consume pro-Vladimir Putin information with their general diet."



- Putin’s Biker Buddy Calls for Putting Soviet Star on Russia’s Coat of Arms
(Window on Eurasia)
“(Aleksander Zaldostanov’s) plan, which he said had been developed by his Night Wolves bikers, would have the two-headed eagle illuminated by the sun’s rays and surrounded by sheaves of wheat, much as the Soviet coat of arms did and that it would be topped by a five-pointed star as a symbol of Russia’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. “New times require new symbols,” the biker continued, and “the unification on the coat of arms of tsarist and Soviet symbols is a symbolic rethinking of the Crimean consensus.”



- Misinformation on social media: Can technology save us?
(The Conversation)
“… we have an industry of fake news and digital misinformation. Clickbait sites manufacture hoaxes to make money from ads, while so-called hyperpartisan sites publish and spread rumors and conspiracy theories to influence public opinion. This industry is bolstered by how easy it is to create social bots, fake accounts controlled by software that look like real people and therefore can have real influence."
(reprinted by Time)



- “Panfilov’s 28”: Russia’s culture minister says anyone who questions this tale of Soviet bravery is ‘filthy scum’
(Washington Post | Moscow Times)
“Russia is vast, but there's nowhere to retreat - behind us is Moscow.”
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"Russian Archives Cast Doubt on Legends of Soviet War Heroes."
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"To Be Great Again, Russia Resurrects Soviet Legends."



- The Kremlin Would Be Proud of Trump’s Propaganda Playbook
(Mother Jones)
[The four ‘D’s of mis-information.]



- Putin brings China's Great Firewall to Russia in cybersecurity pact
(The Guardian)
"A group of Kremlin and security officials is driving the offensive against internet freedoms. The government fears the web could be used to mobilise protesters and disseminate dangerous ideas and information and it is looking for ways to switch off connections in times of crisis."



- Mikhail Khodorkovsky: Treat Putin as a bandit
(Politico-Europe)
“... blunt advice for Europe: Wake up and stop playing nice."



- Commentary: Putin Without Borders
(Brian Whitmore)



- A Russia reset? Maybe not yet
(Politico-Europe)
“… interviews with more than a dozen officials and experts contacted by POLITICO since the election reveal an unyielding bipartisan and institutional opposition to any perceived effort by Trump to appease Putin. Such a gesture would be met with strong resistance from Congress, European allies, career national security officials and possibly even some key Trump officials."



- Russia Opens Criminal Case Against Ukrainian Military Commanders
(RFERL)
“… for alleged war crimes committed in the eastern Ukrainian Donbas region."

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