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27 October, 2017


✔︎ Is the logging lobby eating-away at Estonia’s forests?  Or is the state of Estonia’s forests "the best in a century” as RMK claims? A list of nine stories follows. - Various sources 

✔︎ - Esimene Lumi: Neljapäeval oli Eestis juhtunud rohkem kui 100 liiklusõnnetust - ERR

✔︎ The Catalan regional parliament has voted to declare independence from Spain, while the Spanish parliament has approved direct rule over the region.  - BBC

Foto: 


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The Debate Over 
Estonia’s Forests
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✔︎ Estonia’s trees: Valued resource or squandered second chance?
(Mongabay - October 2017)
"Estonia’s Ministry of Environment claims that Estonia’s forests are currently expanding in size, but conservation scientists say the opposite is true.”


✔︎ Logging lobby eating into forests
(Postimees - December 2016)
"Cutting of forests first got out of hand in the 1990s and recently at the end of the previous decade as a result of which public outrage helped environmentalists achieve a tougher law. The industry recuperated, however, and its lobbying efforts were shifted into overdrive. … The lion's share of logging is done by state forest manager RMK ..."


✔︎ RMK: The state of Estonia’s forests is the best in a century
(Postimees - June 2017)
“The steady increase of forest area is the history of our use of land, the story of its changing and it contains a loot of tragic aspects. The world war, deportations and the people moving away from villages opened an opportunity to the forest. It used the opportunity and thousands of hectares became naturally afforested”, said Tiit Timberg, board member of RMK, the State Forest Management Center."


✔︎ Inimesed nõuavad reaalset muudatust metsanduspoliitikas
(Pealinn - April 2017)
"Selge on see, et Eesti raiepoliitika on liiga intensiivne. Praegused põlismetsad on muutumas puupõldudeks ja see, mida inimesed metsa all tunnevad on kadumas," ütles Pealinnale keskkonnaaktivist Linda-Mari Väli."


✔︎ Citizens Confront Estonian State Over Excessive De-Forestation
by Linda-Mari Väli
(Political Critique - March 2017)
"Tõnis Kõiv of the Reform Party has declared that ‘the forest is foremost a source of revenue,’ while interests of citizens have been declared null and void.”


✔︎ Kaitseministeerium alustas Nursipalus suure metsaraiega, et rajada miinipildurite väljaõppeks sihtmärgiala
(Delfi - October 2017)
"Keskkonnaamet lubas maha võtta 94,2 hektarit metsa, sellest piisab esmase miinipilduja väljaõppe jaoks. Lisaks nõustus kaitseministeerium, et Nursipalu 3000 hektarist 1000 läheb Keretü looduskaitseala alla.”


✔︎ Data: Global Forest Watch
[Estonia has lost 321,188 hectares of tree cover between 2001 and 2016 while gaining only 89,430 hectares as of 2012.]


✔︎ Euroopa viimaseid puutumatuid metsasid ähvardavad raietööd
(Postimees - Sept. 2017)


✔︎ Europe’s last wildernesses are under threat – can we save them?
(New Scientist - Sept. 2017)




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Friday 27. 
October
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- Kes peab tõttama ID-kaarti uuendama ja kes võib esialgu rahulikult võtta
(Postimees)
"Seoses paar päeva tagasi alanud turvaprobleemiga ID-kaartide sertifikaatide uuendamisega on riik koostanud täpsed juhised, selgitamaks, kes peab kohe tõttama ID-kaarti uuendama ja kes võib rahulikult võtta. … ID-kaarti sertifikaate saab üheaegselt uuendada 1000 inimest ja päevas 15 000 inimest, mistõttu on oluline, et ID-kaardi saaksid ennekõike uuendatud need kasutajad, kelle jaoks on see praegu hädavajalik."



- Juhtkiri: Hispaania tuumapomm
(Postimees)

- Eesti toetab jätkuvalt Hispaania territoriaalset terviklikkust
(Delfi)
[Estonia will continue to support the territorial integrity of Spain.]

- EU: Catalonia Declares Independence; Spain Approves Central Takeover Of Region
(Reuters | NPR) 
"The Spanish Senate - as expected - has voted to impose central control over Catalan government institutions. This just over an hour after the Catalan parliament voted to declare independence from Spain."
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- Spain's Article 155: The constitution's 'nuclear option’
(DW)
"Article 155 of the Spanish constitution would allow the government in Madrid to intervene in the running of Catalonia. It's an extreme measure for exceptional situations that has never been invoked before."

- What Political Science Tells Us About the Risk of Civil War in Spain
(War on the Rocks)




- What Poland Can Do for Europe
(Foreign Affairs)
"Poland is on a military spending spree. Since January, Warsaw has announced that it would negotiate a $7.6 billion missile deal with the arms-maker Raytheon, that it would purchase a number of new helicopters and tanks, and that it is considering buying as many as 100 more fighter planes. In the coming years, it plans to procure over 1,000 military drones and five new naval ships. These plans are part of a $14.5 billion military modernization program that Warsaw announced in late 2016—and thanks to them, Poland is poised to play a key role in defending Europe."




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Thursday 26. 
October
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- Esimene Lumi: Lõunaks oli Eestis juhtunud rohkem kui 100 liiklusõnnetust
(Postimees)
Foto: Postimees | Martin Ilustrumm

- First snow of the season - most drivers still had summer tires
(ERR)



- Peaministri auto lendas pärast kokkupõrget vastassuunavööndisse
(Postimees | ERR)
"Peaminister Jüri Ratas oli ametiautoga Audi A8 parasjagu teel Tallinna Tehnikaülikoolist Tallinna linnavolikogu poole, kui Eesti Draamateatri ees ristmikul kihutas sõidukile külje pealt sisse maastur."
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- Latvia and Lithuania Fear Demographic Collapse
(Transitions)

- Estonia’s net migration was positive in 2016
(Baltic Course)



- Car-Bomb Murders Terrify Ukraine's Capital, and Many Suspect the Kremlin's Behind Them
by Anna Nemtsova
(The Daily Beast)
"The attempt to kill a right-wing member of parliament on Wednesday night was just the latest in a string of murders targeting critics and enemies of Russia in Ukraine."

- Assassination Attempt Injures Ukrainian Lawmaker, Kills 2 People
(NPR | LA Times)
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Wednesday 25. 
October
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- Information System Authority advises not to rush with ID card update
(ERR | Postimees)
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- Latvia-Russia border to be decided at last
(Latvian Broadcasting)
"The issue of where the border should run has not been without problems, not the least of which concerns the Abrene district, formerly a part if Latvia during the first independence period but annexed by the Russian Federal Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union in 1945. It is now known as the Pytalovsky district of Russia and following the signing ceremony, will remain so for good."



- Propaganda 101: Notes from the disinformation front
(CEPA)
“… more than ever the West needs to learn from the experiences of the Baltic states who have long been on the frontline of Russia’s disinformation campaign."




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Tuesday 24. 
October
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- The slow train to Tallinn
(The New Statesman - Uk)
"Estonia is starting to challenge our whole perception of East and West, new EU members and old.”



- Eesti peldikuprobleem oli üheksakümnendate alguses nii halb, et sellest tehti lausa eraldi saade
(Delfi)
"Paljud tänapäeva noored ehk ei oskagi hinnata WC hüvesid, kuna puudub võrdlusmoment. Ent vanematest inimestest mäletavad paljud ehk liigagi hästi aegu, kui enese kergendamiseks avalikus käimlas tuli veidi pikemalt hoogu koguda."



- Impacts of Russian Information Operations: Technical and Psychological Aims
by Monica M. Ruiz
(Diplomatic)

- Propaganda messages hidden behind the Golden Mask festival
(Propastop)

- Propagandasõnumid Kuldse Maski varjus
(Propastop | Postimees)
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- US NATO ambassador to press Russia on Zapad troop numbers
(Deutsche Welle)



- EU: Where Europe went wrong
(Politico-Europe)
“… U.S. journalist and think tanker William Drozdiak shows how three flawed projects launched at the end of the Cold War - the euro, the Schengen zone of passport-free travel, and the eastward enlargement of the EU and NATO - have stumbled into trouble, opening deep rifts in Europe."
--
“Today, the dream of European unity has begun to wither away, and the future stability of the Continent is clouded in uncertainty.”



- EU deficit to GDP and debt to GDP ratios fall
(Capital Com SV | Estonian World)
"The lowest government deficits as a percentage of GDP were recorded in Estonia (-0.3%), Denmark (-0.6%), Ireland (-0.7%) and Croatia (-0.9%)."
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- The Estonian Defence Forces are increasingly concentrating on the technical aspects of defense.
(ERR)




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Monday 23. 
October
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- Winter is coming: Observations from the Baltic states
(CEPA)
"National Baltic legislatures have passed laws to clarify that if their own soldiers are ordered by civilian authorities not to fight invading Russian forces, such orders must be ignored. The experience of 1940 - when Soviet forces annexed the Baltic republics without war - will not be repeated. If attacked, these countries will fight."



- Correcting History In Lithuania
(Brian Whitmore)
"The struggle over memory is about more than memory."

- Lithuanians Erect Signs Next to Soviet Memorials Explaining Why those Monuments are Lying
(Paul Goble)



- Saaremaal leiti ühishauast 15 punaarmeelase säilmed
(Saarte Hääl | Postimees)
"2013. aasta juunis leidis Kristian von Wovern oma maalt RPG 40 granaadi ja kuna ta oli juttu sinna maetud sõduritest kuulnud, siis tuli ka otsus haud lahti kaevata."



- Pagan Faith, Accelerated Technology: a walk on Estonia’s Muhu Island
(Deep Baltic)



- Report: NATO Grapples with Serious Organizational Shortcomings
(Spiegel)
"Senior military officers would like to see a return to the command structures used by the alliance during the Cold War."




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Off Topic
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- Martin Luther's daring revolution: The Reformation 500 years on
(Deutsche Welle | BBC | others)
"On 31 October 1517, as legend has it, renegade monk Martin Luther nailed a document to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The Ninety-five Theses marked the beginning of the Reformation, the first major break in the unity of Christianity since 1054."
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Russia
“Trust No One"
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✔︎ Kseniya Sobchak Says Crimea is Ukrainian Territory - ‘Period’
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
“Crimea is Ukraine. Period. … We did not keep our word. We violated the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. We promised and we did not fulfill this promise.”

✔︎ Sobchak’s Statement on Crimea May Not Matter Now But It has Profound Consequences for the Future
(Window on Eurasia)
"Sobchak has returned the discussion of the status of Crimea to open political discussion in Russia, something that had previously been impossible because of a legal ban on call for changes in Russia’s external borders."

✔︎ Kremlin slams Sobchak’s statement on Crimea as totally wrong
(Pro-Kremlin TASS)
The confrontational (and IMO crazy) Vladimir Zhirinovsky - “... has urged criminal proceedings against Sobchak for her statement on Crimea, stressing that she deserves a five-year prison term.”



- Ekho Moskvy deputy chief editor Tatyana Felgenhauer was attacked inside the radio station’s studio
(Meduza | DW)
"Ekho Moskvy radio hosts get death threats constantly."
—

- Another Ekho Moskvy Journalist Ksenia Larina Flees Russia
(Moscow Times | Meduza)
"Ekho Moskvy's Yulia Latynina also fled Russia in September."
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- Why does Putin want to control Ukraine? Ask Stalin.
(Washington Post)
"In February 2014, men dressed in camouflage, driving armored trucks and carrying military-issue weapons emerged from the Russian military base in Sevastopol and began streaming across the Ukrainian province of Crimea. Within hours, they had occupied town halls and television stations. Within days, they had co-opted local thugs and criminals to create a provisional government. They held a tightly controlled referendum and announced that residents of the region wanted it to belong to Russia."
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"While it unfolded, Russian spokesmen, journalists and Internet trolls deliberately cloaked the invasion in a thick cloud of falsehood. The annexation was described as a revolt against “Nazis” and “fascists” in Kiev who had staged a coup d’etat; in fact, Ukraine’s pro-Russian president had fled the country after ordering his troops to fire at people demonstrating against his increasingly corrupt and authoritarian rule. Russian President Vladi­mir Putin gave emotive speeches and announced the annexation of Crimea in March. A hyper-patriotic victory campaign lauding the acquisition of Krym nash - our Crimea - followed."



✔︎ Putin and the Proxies
(The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project)
"According to OCCRP’s calculations and their 2017 Forbes ratings, the total wealth of Putin’s inner circle - a mix of family members, old friends, and friends who became family members - stands at nearly $24 billion. Their most successful businesses are either linked to the largely state-controlled oil and gas sector or connected to other state corporations."
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"Three of the people on this list - Mikhail Shelomov, Sergei Roldugin, and Pyotr Kolbin - form their own pattern. Though they hold enormous assets, they stay out of the public eye, seem largely unaware of their own companies, and are at pains to explain the origins of their wealth. This, along with their personal connections to the president, raise questions about whether their assets really belong to them, or if they are merely proxies."



- Pride and Prejudice: Russia Rearms Its History
(Carnegie Europe)
"Much of Russia’s self-perception and self-confidence as a world power is based on two elements: first, that it is the juridical successor of the USSR and thus the heir of its Soviet imperial ideology; second, that it was victorious in World War II under the leadership of Stalin and thus liberated Europe from Fascism."



- Russia's historical distortions
by Janusz Bugajski
(CEPA)
"Since the Bolshevik seizure of power, the manipulation and distortion of Russia’s history has served three main purposes: legitimizing the regime, denigrating its rivals, and mobilizing the masses. In contemporary Russia, historical narratives justify the policies of the administration of President Vladimir Putin, which claims to follow a glorious historical tradition in defending Mother Russia against a multitude of foreign enemies.”
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"Even as Russia’s citizens hover on the material level of a poor developing country—with shrinking living standards, shortened life spans, rampant alcoholism, growing crime, collapsing health care and crumbling infrastructure—the Russian state-empire is depicted as a unique civilization. This alleged bastion of Christianity is an enlightened civilization with a deep Russian “soul” that no Westerner can understand. Such arguments are intended to disguise reality and make Russians feel important, despite the growing repression and destitution."
http://cepa.org/EuropesEdge/Russias-historical-distortions



- RIP Russian Banks: How to Resuscitate a Moribund System
(Carnegie Moscow)
"The contemporary Russian financial system began to emerge twenty to thirty years ago on the ruins of the Soviet banking structure, which was unable to serve the evolving demands of the nascent free market. In the “wild 1990s,” the financial system was rife with profitable but gray activities, including the accumulation of liquidity for privatization investments, the illegal export of capital, tax evasion, and money laundering. Every local “oligarch” had his own bank, and geographic expanse and the informality of economic ties helped create a very fragmented banking sector. In time, many of these banks naturally failed …"



- Documents Offer Insight Into Soviet View Of JFK Assassination
(NPR)


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