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14 April, 2017



✔︎ NATO"I said it was obsolete. 
It's no longer obsolete." - ABCNews

✔︎ Venemaa sokutas Sinimägede 
mälestusüritusele oma natsi - Kapo 

✔︎ Eesti lahkumist Euroopa Liidust 
ei poolda isegi EKRE valijad - ERR


- Eesti Pank Foto: 



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Friday 14. April
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✔︎ Fotod ja video: Suure Reede Ristikäik Tallinnas
(ERR | Delfi)
"Suurel reedel toimus ristitee rännak Tallinna kirikutes, millest võttis osa rekordarv inimesi."
--

- Õpetaja Triin Käpp: eestlased ei ole üldse usuleiged, vaid usuvad lihtsalt erinevaid asju
(Postimees)

- Kristlikud lihavõtted ja jänesed - millest selline seos?
(ERR)



✔︎ Aino Lavoie’s “Coming to America” story
(Worthington Daily Globe - Minnesota)
"While under Russian control, many Estonian people were taken to Siberia, including Aino’s grandparents, her aunts, cousins and her younger sister, Helju. Aino and her mom fled west."
--
“We went through Latvia, Lithuania and Poland with hopes the war would end and we could go back,” Aino shared. “It didn’t happen like that. ...”



- Raine Karp: Linnahall on käest lastud selle ehitamise ajast saadik
(Delfi - login required)
"Linnahall on nõukogude aja lõpupoolest üldse üks halvemini ehitatud ja kehvema kvaliteediga hooneid, mille ehitasid vabakäiguvangid ja sõjaväelased…"



- Europe Is Still a Superpower
by Princeton professor 
Andrew Moravcsik
(Foreign Policy)
"Modern Europe is messy, and its institutions and policies are imperfect. Some of the threats facing the EU are real: slow growth and austerity, for instance, within the eurozone. Others, like rising right-wing nationalism and migration, are less so … Yet amid all the hyperbole and hysteria, a basic point gets missed. Europe today is a genuine superpower and will likely remain one for decades to come."



Arvamus: Eesti lahkumist Euroopa Liidust ei poolda isegi EKRE valijad
(ERR)
"85 protsenti Eesti elanikest (sealhulgas 85 protsenti EKRE valijatest) on arvamusel, et Eesti on globaliseerumisest võitnud."



- Campaign to bring Tesla factory to Eesti
(Postimees)
"The campaign to lure Tesla to Estonia is pulled by the Pakri Science and Industrial Park head of which Enn Laansoo Jr. believes it would be entirely possible to have the factory come to Paldiski."

- Tesla will seek sites for European factory next year
(Automotive News Europe - Nov. 2016)



Off Topic: British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia
(The Guardian)
"GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents.”
--
 “… until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians, sources said. The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence - known as sigint - included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material, one source said. Another source suggested the Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors."




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Thursday 13. April
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✔︎ NATO: 'It's no longer obsolete’
(ABCNews | BBC | Fortune)
"President Donald Trump reversed course on his view of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Wednesday, saying the organization is "no longer obsolete" after months of bashing the defense alliance as no longer relevant during his campaign. "I said it was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete," Trump said in a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the White House."
--
"The secretary general and I had a productive discussion about what more NATO can do in the fight against terrorism," Trump said. "I complained about that a long time ago, and they made a change and now they do fight terrorism."


Paul Ryan will lead bipartisan delegation to NATO allies next week
(Washington Post | Estonian World)
 “… to meet with leaders of key NATO allies including Estonia, a nation seen to be on the front lines of Russian aggression toward the West. … Estonian leaders have been particularly concerned about Russian aggression at their front door."



Toronto Eesti Maja: 'From the next generation’ 
(Estonian World Review)
[Linda Veltmann, a CPA, comments on the financial condition of their Eesti Maja and explains the rationale for moving to a new facility.]
"Our beloved (Toronto) Estonian House has operated and run its course. Its capital equipment is patched up by the best volunteers a community could ask for. However, patchwork is not sustainable. It addresses the immediate problem but not the long-term solution. … Net income of the Estonian House has been on a decline and it is operating in an ever-deepening loss position. … we have an exponentially larger part of the community who no longer comes to the current Estonian House because they do not feel that it reflects who they are as Estonians. … we have a viable opportunity on Madison to secure a Class-A “trophy” space that reflects our success as a community (so) why apply bandaid after tattered bandaid at 958 Broadview?"


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Closer to home: The New York Eesti Maja 
Visit their website:
Then please make a contribution to the NYEM. Use the PayPal button on their homepage. 
Aitäh!
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- 10 kõige-kõige-kõige paika Eestis
(Puhka Eestis)



- Estonian troops give up their barracks to NATO allies
(BBC)
“… the Estonians will have to sacrifice at least one Baltic tradition: "The main difference with the Tapa military compound is that we live in the open air and there's no sauna."




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Wednesday 12. April
_____________


✔︎ Kapo: Venemaa sokutas Sinimägede mälestusüritusele oma natsi
(ERR)



✔︎ Russia sends it’s own right-wing extremists to Estonia for Nazi labeling
(Postimees | Baltic Times)
"Sticking labels on Estonia is typical for Russian propaganda …”
--
"We have noticed a tendency to delegate right-wing extremists from Russia to Estonian events in order to publicly display Nazi symbols, which leads to media coverage of this 'social problem' in Estonia. One of the best examples from last year is the attempted provocation where the St. Petersburg skinhead Aleksei Maksimov was sent to Estonia to be captured on film as a 'local Nazi activist’."



- New report says Russia is intensifying its spy game in Eastern Europe
(Business Insider)

"The most recent notice of such activity comes from Estonia, whose intelligence service's annual report says the "Baltic Sea area is especially vulnerable to threats from Russia."
--
"According to Estonia's national intelligence service, Russia, acting through its military intelligence agency, the GRU, and its Federal Security Service, or FSB, has taken a special interest in the foreign and security policies, defense planning, armed forces, arms development, and military capabilities of its neighbors."







- Eesti kontuur saab täna 100-aastaseks
(ERR)
"1917. aasta 12. aprillil andis Venemaa Ajutine Valitsus välja Eestimaa autonoomia määruse Eestimaa kubermangu administratiivse valitsuse ja kohaliku omavalitsuse ajutise korra kohta. Sellega liideti Liivimaa kubermangu Pärnu, Saare, Tartu, Viljandi ja Võru maakond Eestimaa kubermanguga ning täna võime öelda, et tekkis haldusüksus, mis oma kujult sarnanes nüüdisaegse Eesti Vabariigiga."

- Eesti esimene rahvusatlas võtab kokku riigi 100-aastase arengu
(Tartu Ülikool)



- BBC planning to broadcast its news in Baltics 
(Baltic Times)
[Just not in Estonian.]




_____________

Tuesday 11. April
_____________

- Estonia's Koit Toome and Laura are returning to the Eurovision Song Contest
(Eurovision)
"Their song for 2017 is called Verona and is described as a modern take on Romeo and Juliet."



Montenegro: Approved for NATO Membership
(RFERL | The Hill | RFERL)

- Montenegro Has the U.S. Greenlight to Join NATO. Now What?
(Foreign Policy)

- Russia protests US approval of Montenegro’s NATO membership
(Politico-Europe)



- Lapland reindeer herders still carrying radiation from Cold War nuclear tests
(Yle)




_____________

Monday 10. April
_____________


Eesti julgeolekuolukord on hetkel rahulik
(Delfi)
"Täna kogunes Kadriorus Jääkeldris riigipea kutsel riigikaitse nõukogu, kus räägiti nii terroriaktidest Peterburis ja Stockholmis kui ka arengutest Süürias."

- Estonia's independence better protected than ever before
(Baltic Times)
"Despite the tense global situation and terrorism that has penetrated Europe, Estonia's independence is better protected than ever before, Prime Minister Juri Ratas said in his speech at the St. John's Church in St. Petersburg on Saturday. … 



- Propastop: pronksöö 10. aastapäev kogub tuure
(Postimees)

- Venemeelne propaganda Tallinna televisioonis
(Delfi)
“… saates kiideti Krimmi annekteerimist, elu olevat seal parem kui Eestis…”




EU: German Campaign Turning into a Debate Over Europe
(Spiegel)
"In six months, Germany will go to the polls in a showdown between Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democratic challenger Martin Schulz. One issue is set to dominate the campaign: What to do about the European Union."




_____________

- Russia -
"Trust No One"
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- Putin’s Façade
(Atlantic Council)

"An increased NATO presence in the Baltics and more robust defense measures are all necessary and proportional steps towards creating a formidable deterrent to protect the United States’ more vulnerable allies in Russia’s neighborhood. Russia, however, is not the existential threat to Europe that the Soviet Union once was, and it shouldn’t be treated as such. Time is not on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s side, and he can only ignore fundamental flaws in the socioeconomic landscape of Russian society for so long. Building submarines and nuclear weapons will not reinvigorate the Russian economy, and could eventually degrade what progress has been made to reestablish Russian prominence on the world stage."
--
"The inertial nature of demographic pressure makes it an exceedingly difficult problem to address, but also allows nations to forecast more easily. By nearly all calculations, Russia’s projected population growth appears stagnant at best. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the population of Russia (despite upwards of 9 million immigrants) declined each year until 2013."



- After Rex Tillerson Leaves, Putin Orders Sweeping Arrests of Nine Opposition Figures
(Paul Goble)
"Ilya Ponomaryev, a longtime Russian human rights activist, told the news agency that these arrests were the Kremlin’s response to the success of the March 26 actions and that their timing reflected both Putin’s statement yesterday after fighting “color revolutions” and his desire not to have them become the subject of US-Russian conversations."



- Russia papers are now critical of Trump
(BBC video report)



Humor: Putin Angrily Resigns from Trump’s Reëlection Campaign
(The New Yorker)
"In an unusually emotional comment by the Russian President, a visibly bitter Putin added, “I worked very hard on Trump’s 2016 campaign, and, at the end of the day, I have no more to show for it than Chris Christie does.”



- ‘Anaconda': Siloviki Launch Major Campaign in Moscow to Find and Confiscate Illegal Weapons
(Window on Eurasia)



Book Review: 'Who Lost Russia? - How the World Entered a New Cold War' 
(New York Times)
"The hopes for a partnership between Russia and the West have been dashed, and in “Who Lost Russia?” Peter Conradi, the foreign editor of The Sunday Times of London who spent seven years covering Russia for Reuters, seeks to explain what went wrong."



- Russia makes a lot of noise for propaganda's sake
(The Baltic Times)
"Ants Laaneots, member of the Estonian parliament's national defense committee … was asked if Russia could seek to strike back at the United States elsewhere if the conflict in Syria escalates and could choose to do it in the Baltics, for instance, Laaneots said that one should not overdramatize the situation."



- Venelased süüdistavad Putinit korruptsioonis
(Postimees)



Opinion: The White House is getting smarter on Russia — but still has a lot to learn
(Washington Post)



- Is the humble Lada now a classic car?
(BBC)
“… a new generation of people in their 20s and 30s like the car's shape - there is nothing like it on the road. They've now become a fashion statement."

- Finland: Lasting Lada love
(Yle)
"Lada clubs exist across Europe, including in Hungary, UK, Estonia, the Netherlands and, of course, Russia."

- The iconic Lada is back as Russia’s best-selling car
(BNE)

- Lastly:
- What do you call a Lada at the top of a hill? 
A miracle.
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