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29 September, 2017


✔︎ The Tallinn Digital Summit: EU leaders gather in Tallinn to discuss Europe's digital future

✔︎ Uus Ameerika suursaadik on Eesti juurtega admiral

✔︎ Estonian ID-card cure found


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Friday 29. Sept.
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 ✔︎ The EU exodus: When doctors and nurses follow the money
(Politico-Europe)
"A Politico analysis of European Commission data found the exodus of health care professionals is especially pronounced from Eastern and Southern Europe. In effect, these countries are training doctors for their richer neighbors."
--
"Take Ingmar Lindström, who graduated from the University of Tartu’s medical school in Estonia in 2001. All he had to do to quadruple his salary was move 200 kilometers. He was making about €600 a month as a doctor in Estonia, doing family medicine work and studying for his Ph.D. He enjoyed his job and liked the place where he lived. “But it didn’t pay all the bills,” he said. “That’s the main reason I thought I might go to Finland.”
--
"Just across the gulf, young doctors made €2,000 or €3,000 per month - four to five times what they could make in Estonia - and a shortage of Finnish doctors made it easy to find a job. “A few years after I graduated, 30 to 40 percent of each graduating class was moving,” Lindström said.”



- 'Global Living Rooms' - Estonia
(Deutsche Welle video)
"DW visits journalist Tonis Kipper on Saaremaa …”




 - EU: The Tallinn Digital Summit 


Euroopa juhid lahkusid Tallinnast palju targemana
(ERR)


Europe’s ‘e-believers’ brave skepticism in Estonia
(Politico-Europe)


Estonia launches EU Sanctions Map
(ERR)
“… a web environment where anyone interested can receive up-to-date information regarding sanctions being implemented in the EU."
- map:


Euroopa digitippkohtumise blogid
(Postimees | ERR)


- The Tallinn Digital Summit
(EU2017)
"This background paper presents the underlying trends confronting us in four areas: the economic transformation brought about by digital technologies, the ramifications of this transformation for society and the future of work, the destabilising a ect this transformation can have for our security, and the opportunities arising from the digital transformation of government."


- Estonia sees digital summit as success in itself
(EU Observer)
"Unlike regular summits in Brussels, the digital conference will not yield a written declaration or conclusions. Instead, Estonian prime minister Juri Ratas will brief the press afterward, together with European commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council president Donald Tusk."
--
"In the coming weeks, Estonia will write a report summarising the debate. But with all leaders having committed to attending, the digitally minded Estonians have already managed to shape the discussion."


- Estonia leads the way in EU digital revolution
(Euronews)


- Mõned ministrid blokeerivad digiarengut
(ERR)


- EU to seek higher digital taxes on US giants
(ABCNews)
“… 19 of 28 nations in support of plans for continent-wide fiscal rules on taxing major internet companies. Ireland disagreed with the proposal and said many Nordic countries had joined it in opposition."


- EU leaders gather in Tallinn to discuss Europe's digital future
(Deutsche Welle)
"French President Emmanuel Macron called high-tech companies the 'freeloaders of the modern world'. Macron has proposed taxing digital multinationals on the revenue generated in an EU country instead of on profits booked in a low-tax EU headquarters."


- Merkel signals support for Macron's EU reform
(EU Observer)
"After Brexit, EU leaders are looking at ways to deepen cooperation."


- Riigijuhid võtsid Tallinnas Macroni ideed kahetiselt vastu
(ERR)


- Reede pärastlõunaks oli Eesti eesistumise digitippkohtumist kajastama kogunenud umbes 370 ajakirjanikku üle Euroopa
(ERR)
--



- Estonian nationalists protest EU refugee quotas
(Daily News | Express)
"Some 150 protesters from Estonia's nationalist-conservative EKRE party have demonstrated outside a summit of EU leaders in Tallinn against the EU's immigration policies and its refugee quota system."



- The Finnish Line
(The New Yorker)
"Risto Sivula, a Finn from north of Helsinki who now lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, has, for the past eight months, been driving around the country with a portable sauna attached to the back of his pickup truck. “We have about fourteen thousand miles on it so far, and about nine hundred and fifty people have taken a sauna.”

http://www.travelingsauna.com



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Thursday 28. Sept.
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✔︎ Interview: Historian Anne Applebaum
(RFERL)
"The latest book by Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Anne Applebaum, Red Famine: Stalin's War On Ukraine, sheds new light on one of the seminal events in Ukrainian history – the deadly famine of 1932-33 that Ukrainians call the Holodomor. Some 4 million Ukrainians were killed in a famine that was engineered by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to eliminate a perceived threat to central Soviet power."



- To fight the new Cold War, we must forget the old one
(New Eastern Europe)
"Russia's true success is the millions of Americans who cannot tell Russian propaganda when they see it …"



- Uus Ameerika suursaadik on Eesti juurtega admiral
(Õhtu Leht)
"USA president Donald Trump on Ãœhendriikide uueks esindajaks Eestis välja valinud 32aastase teenistuse järel erru läinud admirali (RADM, rear admiral) Edward (Sonny) Masso, kellele tema tulevane asukohamaa pole sugugi päris võõras koht. Nimelt on alates 1992. aastast juba kümnes USA suursaadik Eestis juurte poolest eestlane.”

- The next U.S. ambassador to the Baltic nation of Estonia
(Allgov)
CV:



- Estonia considers a ’kratt law’ to legalise Artifical Intelligence (AI)
by Marten Kaevats
(Medium)
“… in Estonian mythology we have a character called kratt, a creature which has existed in our cultural space for hundreds of years and which is composed of a number of unique features. When the owner acquires from the devil a soul for its kratt (in modern tech talk this mean algorithm), the kratt begins to serve its master.”
--
"From a communication point of view, the “kratt” narrative is useful because every Estonian knows this story. Kratt’s are something that society understands; AI is something that is complex and difficult to understand. From a technological point of view, the kratt character has exactly the same features as AI."



- Estonian ID-card cure found
(Postimees)
"RIA handed out the first ID-cards sporting new software for testing late last week. The test cards were distributed primarily to banks so they could rework their e-services to work with the new software.”
“… people who download new ID-card software starting from late October and use it to update their card certificates in November will be free of the theoretical vulnerability in their cards. Use of elliptical algorithms is nothing new as the solution has been used with the Estonian Mobile-ID service since 2014.”



- Soviet mural enjoys rare Estonian restoration
(BBC)
"A group of Estonian artists has restored a mural of a sailor at an abandoned Soviet naval base [at the naval club on the small island of Naissaar just off the shore near the capital, Tallinn] in an effort to address their country's troubled history with Russia."



Ukraine: Another Ammo Dump Goes Up in Massive Explosion
(ABCNews | Euronews)
"The fire at the warehouse at a military base in Ukraine's central Vinnytsia region began late Tuesday, setting off a series of explosions and prompting the evacuation of 30,000 people. Electricity and gas supplies were cut off in the area, and trains were severely delayed across the country. The fire was still blazing Thursday..”



- Ukraina laskemoonalaos kärgatab veel üksikuid plahvatusi
(Postimees | ERR)





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Wednesday 27. Sept.
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Isad saavad 30-päevase vanemapuhkuse, kuni 1544-eurose palgaga töötamine hüvitist ei vähenda
(Pealinn)



- Turvamehed patrullivad trammides
(Pealinn)
“Ilma kevadine soojenemine ja sügisene jahenemine aktiviseerib asotsiaalid ning siis on lisaks Mupole tarvis lisajõude, et toimuvat kontrolli all hoida."



- Paljud Vene viisa taotlused on tagasi lükatud
(Lõuna Leht)
"Tulenevalt viimase kolme nädala meelemuutusest Vene Föderatsiooni Tartu konsulaarametnike poolt, on paljud viisataotlused viisa sihipärast kasutamist tõendavate lisadokumentide nõudmise tõttu tagastatud. Löögi all on nii kultuurigrupid, omavalitsus- ja riigiametnikud, koolid, seltsid ning kogudused. Lisanõudmised ei ole seni puudutanud lähisugulaste hauaplatside külastajaid vastavate tõendite alusel."

- Venemaa meelemuutus jätab eestlased viisata
(Postimees)

- Vene kultuuriviisa saamine muutus kagueestlastele üleöö keeruliseks
(Maaleht)



- Turvariskiga ID-kaarte saab uuendama hakata novembris
(Õhtuleht)
"Praegu testime rakendust ning oleme andnud testkaardid ka pankadele, et nad saaksid proovida selle sobivust e-teenuste kasutamiseks. Uus tarkvara võimaldab inimestel kodust lahkumata oma ID-kaardi sertifikaadid ära uuendada ning kui kõik läheb plaani järgi, algab sertifikaatide uuendamise protsess selle aasta novembrist.“ 



- Eestis leiti uus kiililiik
(Maa Elu)
"Lõunakõrsik on pärit Põhja-Aafrikast ning Lõuna-Euroopast, kuid viimastel kümnenditel on see liik oma levilat laiendanud jõudsalt põhja poole. Lähiriikidest on liiki leitud Leedus, Rootsis ja Taanis. Suurem sissetung Põhja-Euroopasse on teada 2011. aastast, kui Ölandi saarel asuvas Ottenby linnujaamas püüti ja vaadeldi 30. juunist kuni 27. juulini üle 80 isendi."




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Tuesday 26. Sept.
_____________


Venemaa elektrooniline sõjavõime astub NATO-le kandadele
(Delfi)

- Don't Buy the Reports About Russia's Scary E-Weapons
(Popular Mechanics)





- Suur osa Rail Balticust jääb ilmselt tarastamata
(Pealinn)
"Detsembriks valmiva uuringu tulemusel jääb ligikaudu kolmandik tulevasest Rail Balticu trassist Eestis nähtavasti taradeta ja loomade rongi teelt eemale peletamiseks tulevad kasutusele tehnoloogiad, mida on Euroopaski vähe proovitud."




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"The Zapad Hangover"
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- Kaljulaid Says Russia's Show Of Force Raises Issues Of 'Transparency, Trust’
(NPR)


- Learning Lessons From Zapad 2017
(Carnegie Europe - 21. Sept.)
"NATO must signal to Moscow that any attempt by Russia for a landgrab in the Baltics would be met with a swift and overwhelming response."


 - Zapad 2017: Summary of ‘post exercise’ exercises 
(Russia Military Analysis blog)


Zapad 2017: Lukashenka and Russian Officials Part Ways
(Jamestown Org.)
"No significant cross-border incidents occurred during this year’s Zapad drills, except for a brief intrusion of Lithuanian airspace by two Russian Il-76 heavy military transport jets, on September 16, close to Kaliningrad. The Russian defense ministry declared Vilnius’s official protest of the incident to be “politicized.” Though acknowledging the Il-76s’ intrusion, Moscow explained the jets detoured to avoid a thunderstorm and were in contact with Lithuanian traffic controllers …"


Zapad 2017: Five Things to Know About the Military Exercise
(Chatham House)
“At a time of tension with the West, the Kremlin used the Zapad drills to convey several messages. On the one hand, Russia seeks to control the escalation dominance during a conventional conflict with NATO. It did not rehearse a total war scenario but rather showed it is ready to raise the cost of deterrence in order to win while also imposing a tremendous cost on an invading army."

“… Russia demonstrated that its borders with Eastern Europe are not only conventionally tough to breach but also benefit from solid anti-access capability to deny entry to enemy forces – not just geographically but also on many strategic fronts, from space down to the sea."


Zapad 2017: It will be remembered for the unprecedented sales of vodka near Russian camps
(Charter97 - in Russian) 
and





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- Russia -
"Trust No One"
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- From Soviet Architect To Historian Of The Gulag
(RFERL)
"Vitaly Troshin was the chief architect and city planner in the Russian Arctic city of Vorkuta starting in the 1970s. His research into the city's founding uncovered records that Soviet authorities had buried, detailing the creation of labor camps and the executions of political prisoners. Troshin was determined to keep the history of the gulag from being lost to time."



- Russian Active Measures in Germany and the United States: Analog Lessons from the Cold War
(War on the Rocks)



- Putin Names Nikolay Merkushkin to New Post to Counter Foreign Influence among Russia’s Finno-Ugric Nations
(Window on Eurasia)
[As per the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda]: "The Finno-Ugric republics of the Russian Federation include “Mordvinia from which Merkushkin, a Mordvin, comes, Karelia, Komi, Udmurtia, and Mari El. In addition, the Khanty-Mansiisk, Nenets and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Districts are all part of Finno-Ugric world within Russia.”
"The paper adds that “in these regions are concentrated major military-industry,” as well as large reserves of coal, oil, gas and timber. And they are the focus of the three Finno-Ugric countries – Estonia, Finland and Hungary – all of which argue that the Finno-Ugric peoples would be better off if they were more politically active and ultimately independent of Russia."  



- Moscow’s strategy to carve up Europe
by Janusz Bugajski
(CEPA)
"After a brief interlude following the election of Donald Trump, the Kremlin has refocused its sights on promoting transatlantic rifts. Its propaganda depicts the United States as a hegemon that limits the sovereignty of all European states and pushes them into conflicts along Russia’s borders, including the one with Ukraine. In this schema, Britain is depicted as an American puppet that has now been untethered from the continent following its Brexit decision."
--
"The second carving strategy is to expand fissures between Western Europeans and Central Europeans and to foster various bilateral disputes. Former Soviet satellites, particularly Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are depicted as nationalistic and incurably Russophobic, thus preventing rapprochement between Brussels and Moscow and blocking business opportunities in Russia for Western European companies."



- Staring Down the Barrel of Russia’s Big Guns
(Foreign Policy



- Venemaa agendid on sooritanud Krimmis raskeid inimõigusrikkumisi
(ERR)



- UN accuses Russia of violating human rights in Crimea
(BBC | Deutsche Welle)
"The report, which says the human rights situation has "significantly deteriorated" in the region, notes that hundreds of prisoners were illegally transferred from Crimea to Russian jails. It says civil servants were forced to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship or face losing their jobs, and condemned Moscow's decision to replace Ukrainian laws with Russian ones."
--
"Education in Ukrainian has all but disappeared from Crimean schools."
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