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02 June, 2017


✔︎ Russia calls for expulsion of 2 Estonian diplomats

✔︎ Inimarengu aruanne: Eesti areng on muutumas rände sõltuvaks

✔︎ Merkel Suggests Europe Can No Longer Rely on Trump’s America

✔︎ Foreign Policy Intellectual Zbigniew Brzezinski Dies At 89

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Friday 2. June
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- USA kritiseerimine kliimaleppest taganemise pärast edasi ei vii
(ERR)
"USAd ei ole mõtet kritiseerida Donald Trumpi otsuse pärast kliimaleppest loobuda, sest hurjutamine meid edasi ei vii, rääkis Soome välisminister Timo Soini koos Eesti kolleegi Sven Mikseriga peetud pressikonverentsil ja järgnenud arutelul. Soini ütles, et USAd võib küll kritiseerida, aga mõistlikum oleks juhtida Trumpi tähelepanu hoopis sellele, et ka rohelisest energiast võib kasu lõigata ja sellega äri teha."

Juhtkiri: kliima elab Trumpi üle
(Postimees)

- Liive kliimaleppest: muutused toimuvad vaatamata poliitikale
(Postimees)
--
"Minister of Health and Labour Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) was the first Estonian politician to publicly condemn U.S. President Donald Trump's Thursday decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement …"
--
"Estonian Minister of the Environment Marko Pomerants (IRL) has condemned the decision of U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from the Paris Agreement."



- EU Reactions to US 'retiring from world leadership' 
(PRI | Deutsche Welle | Politico-Europe | HuffPost-Uk)
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✔︎ The Task of Securing Freedom in The Baltics Is Not Over: Fmr Ambassador Daniel Fried
(UpNorth)

“… NATO enlargement even to Poland was considered a dangerous and radical idea, and the NATO enlargement to the Baltics was considered nothing better than a kind of elaborate rhetorical device not to be taken seriously.”
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"But the real credit for all of this, for the Baltic states coming into NATO and the European Union, belongs to the people and governments of the Baltic states. … The Baltic states did what they had to do. And in doing so, they generated the political capital for themselves, which then their friends in the West would use.”

✔︎ A few background articles on Fmr Ambassador Daniel Fried
(Time | Politico | NPR)



- Berliin ja Pariis usuvad, et USA on pühendunud NATO 5. artiklile
(ERR)
"Saksamaa kaitseminister Ursula von der Leyen ja tema uus Prantsuse kolleeg Sylvie Goulard ütlesid neljapäeval, et nad on kindlad, et USA on pühendunud NATO vastastikuse kaitse põhimõttele hoolimata sellest, et president Donald Trump jättis äsja Brüsselis toimunud tippkohtumisel otseselt mainimata Põhja-Atlandi lepingu 5. artikli, kuigi sellist avaldust liitlased temalt ootasid."

Report: NATO might trigger Article 5 for certain cyberattacks
(Defense News)





✔︎ Foreign Policy Intellectual Zbigniew Brzezinski Dies At 89
(NPR | The Atlantic | Washington Post)
"Zbigniew Brzezinski was an accomplished public servant, a powerful intellect, and a passionate advocate for American leadership. His influence spanned several decades, and I was one of several Presidents who benefited from his wisdom and counsel. You always knew where Zbig stood, and his ideas and advocacy helped shape decades of American national security policy.” - former President Obama


✔︎ Remembering Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski
(1928-2017)
by Mika Brzezinski
(MSNBC video)

✔︎ Zbigniew Brzezinski: Scholar, Statesman, Father
(1928-2017)
by Ian Brzezinski
(Atlantic Council)

✔︎ Zbigniew Brzezinski and the untimely death of American statecraft
(Financial Times)
"Brzezinski’s death marks the passing of an American era. It is a sad irony that he died just as Donald Trump was dangling the prospect of a weakened Nato before Russia. Not many outdid Brzezinski’s cold war hawkishness. Fewer still could outclass his strategic brain. A handful of others — notably Henry Kissinger, Brent Scowcroft and George Shultz — are still with us. But Brzezinski was in a category of his own."

✔︎ The Essays of Zbigniew Brzezinski: 1961-2012
(Foreign Affairs)



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Thursday 1. June
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- Inimarengu aruanne: Eesti areng on muutumas rände sõltuvaks
(ERR)

- Estonia unable to maintain population size without immigration


✔︎ Russia calls for expulsion of Estonian, Moldovan diplomats
(Washington Post | ABCNews | RFERL)
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✔︎ Russian envoy: Estonia's decisions reduce to nothing positive shifts in relations
(The Baltic Times)
"We have not been initiators of the kind, we were forced to react to this apparently unfriendly action by the Estonian authorities," Russian Ambassador to Estonia Alexander Petrov told Interfax commenting on Moscow's decision to expel two Estonian diplomats."

✔︎ Russia press release: "Response measures to Tallinn’s hostile treatment of Russian diplomats in Estonia"
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation)
"The head of the Estonian diplomatic mission was presented with a note explaining that in response to this hostile step by Tallinn, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared non-grata Consul General of Estonia in St Petersburg Janus Kerikmae and Head of the Pskov Chancellery of the Consulate General of Estonia in St Petersburg Christen Canarise. These diplomats were instructed to leave the Russian Federation within five days."



Presidendi ametitunnus oleks peaaegu Eestisse jõudnud
(Postimees)
"1936. aastal valmistatud Riigivapi teenetemärgi kett asub Moskva Kremli Relvapalatis ning on seni Eesti riigile tagastamata."



- Mikser discusses transatlantic relations with US congressmen
(ERR)
"The delegation consisted of U.S. Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and John Kennedy, R-La., and Reps. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Phil Roe, R-Tenn."


- NATO’s Enduring Relevance
(Carnegie Europe)
"In the years since the Cold War, it is hard to recall a time when there was as much hand-wringing and dire prognosticating about NATO’s impending demise as has followed the swearing in of U.S. President Donald Trump.”
"The reality is quite different and points to a considerably more positive scenario, in which the alliance has the best chance since 1990 for a renaissance of its capabilities and strategic relevance.”
"The deployments in the Baltics are especially significant, because they show that - notwithstanding perennial criticism of NATO’s sclerotic decisionmaking processes - the alliance can reach consensus on deploying forces within 100 miles of Saint Petersburg."





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- Estonian Jewry celebrates revival 75 years after Nazis declared it extinct
(JTA | Arutz Sheva - 26. May)

"President Kersti Kaljulaid received guests, including Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi, David Lau, at a ceremony in Tallinn, the capital, celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the first Jewish community in Estonia after the Holocaust."
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“Seventy-five years ago, at the Wannsee Conference, Estonia was the first country to be declared Judenfrei (free of Jews). All synagogues in Estonia were razed during the Second World War, leaving no trace of Jewish life in the country."

- Estonia celebrates 10 years of first Jewish Community Center since WWII
(Jerusalem Post | Jewish Press | Lubavitch - 27. May)
“In the Soviet Union, we had a corner, a little synagogue, half hidden,” recalls Peisah Kozlovski, 65. He said life before the establishment of Tallinn’s new synagogue was gloomy. "Life started after Estonia became free, and especially with this synagogue,” he remarked."

- Estonia Virtual Jewish History Tour
(Jewish Virtual Library)
"The process of Jewish settlement in Estonia began in the nineteenth century, when an 1865 statute by Tsar Alexander II granted them the right to enter the region. This allowed the so-called ‘Nicholas soldiers’ and their descendants, kantonists, First Guild tradesmen, artisans and Jews to settle in Estonia and other parts of the empire. The Nicholas soldiers and artisans founded the first Jewish congregations in Estonia. The Tallinn congregation, the largest in Estonia, was founded in 1830. The Tartu congregation was established in 1866 when the first fifty families settled there."

- Varaseimad Andmed Juutide Kohta Eesti Territooriumil
(Ajaloomuuseum)
"Üksikute juutide kohta leidub arhiivimaterjale alates 14. sajandist. Tallinna Linnaarhiivis säilinud dokumendis on 1333. aastal mainitud Tallinnas tegutsevat Johannes Jodet, kes oli arvatavasti juut. Leidub ka teisi samalaadseid üksikjuhtumeid 15. sajandist, kuid need siiski ei näita, et sel ajal oleks Eesti territooriumil olnud juudi asundusi. Tegelikult ei olnud juutidel lubatud 16. sajandil Eestis (ega Liivimaal) elada."

- The Jewish Traveler: Tallinn
(Hadassah Magazine)

- The Great Synagogue of Tartu
(Museum of the Jewish People)

- Remembering the once vibrant Jewish community of Estonia
(Estonian World - Jan. 2016)



- Washington Post: kas tasub surra Eesti nimel?
(Postimees)

Opinion: To die for Estonia?
by Charles Krauthammer 
(Washington Post)
“… An administration official had spread the word that he (Trump) would use the speech to endorse Article 5. And it was delivered at a ceremony honoring the first and only invocation of Article 5 — ironically enough, by the allies in support of America after 9/11. And yet Trump deliberately, defiantly refused to simply say it: 'America will always honor its commitment under Article 5'. It’s not that, had Trump said the magic words, everyone would have 100 percent confidence we would strike back if Russia were to infiltrate little green men into Estonia, as it did in Crimea. But Trump’s refusal to utter those words does lower whatever probability Vladimir Putin might attach to America responding with any seriousness to Russian aggression against a NATO ally."




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Wednesday 31. May
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- The Long and Winding Road to Estonia
(Time)
“A family’s journey from a Greek refugee camp to their new home in Europe"



EU: The Merkel Way, the Macron Way
(Carnegue Europe)
"The German and French leaders begin looking at Europe’s future relationships with the United States and Russia."

- At last, the stars are aligned for European defence
(ECFR)
"Chancellor Merkel and President Macron, meeting in Berlin on 15 May the day after the latter’s inauguration, may not have tied the knot. But everything they said confirmed their new joint hopes: that the tide of destructive nationalism in Europe is finally on the ebb; that the Union is ready to move forward again; and that each will find in the other the partner needed to re-start the indispensable Franco-German motor."



Opinion: Finland Can Teach the World How to Stand Up to Russia
(Bloomberg)
"Deference to the Soviet Union, in the form of a policy known as “Finlandization,” became a pragmatic survival strategy. The country’s “special relationship” with the USSR was manifested in, for example, Moscow’s influence over Finnish cabinet appointments and self-censorship by local policy makers and the media. Such acquiescence helps explain why Finland never joined NATO and only became a member of the EU in 1995, alongside Austria and Sweden."



- Outright warfare continues in Eastern Ukraine
(ERR | BNN | others)
"Outright combat acivity is going on in Eastern Ukraine, said Second Vice-President of the Riigikogu and former Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas (Reform) after visiting Ukrainian troops serving close to the front line in Eastern Ukraine."
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"It is not possible that there is a military conflict in one part of Europe, and the other part of Europe is not touched by it," Rõivas stressed in a speech at the conference on Monday. "The security of Europe is one whole, and the events in Ukraine are the concern of all of us. … I hope that Estonia continues to stand by Ukraine."


- ‘Molotov is Alive and Looking for a New Ribbentrop’ - Lithuanian Foreign Minister 
(Window on Eurasia - 27. May)
"The possibility that the great powers might make such a deal over the heads of the countries of Eastern Europe has been a constant fear in many capitals, especially those who have as the Baltic countries did earlier make as their fundamental demand “nothing about us without us.”
"The Lithuanian diplomat deserves highest praise for describing what is going on in the most lapidary of language."






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Tuesday 30. May
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Eesti pension võrdluses teiste omaaegsete NSVLi maadega
(RFERL)




- Kaljulaid: E-governance now a vital commodity
(ERR)
"President Kersti Kaljulaid delivered the opening remarks at the two-day Tallinn e-Governance Conference 2017, which has brought together participants from 115 countries around the world."



- What would Europe's 'fate' be without the US?
(Deutsche Welle)
"Former European Defense Agency official Nick Witney believes there's never been a more pressing need - nor a better opportunity - for Europe to get serious about this. With Trump's threats coming from one direction and Russia's from the other, the election of France's new cool-headed president, Emmanuel Macron, gives Merkel the best set of circumstances she's going to get for shoring up Europe's self-reliance."




 - Ukraine Tells NATO: Moscow Heavily Involved with ISIS and Other Terrorist Groups
(Window on Eurasia)

"In the not so distant past, the United States government would have taken the lead in exposing Russian threats to the West; but now, with Washington pulling back from that role, other countries and particularly those most directly exposed are filling the vacuum in various ways."
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  "Poland and the Baltic countries, all of whom are in NATO, have come to play a leading role in this regard not only warning the West about what Putin is up to but hosting international conferences and preparing well-documented reports. But now countries even more exposed because they aren’t under the security umbrella of the Western alliance are doing the same."



- EU set to launch thousands of free WiFi hotspots
(Deutsche Welle)

"Under the terms of the scheme, public bodies like hospitals, libraries, parks and other community centers would apply for funding for a local wireless access point. The EU would provide vouchers and other tools to cover up to 100 percent of the cost. The local public body would than be responsible for maintaining the connection for at least three years."





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Monday 29. May
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Spying is Far From the Only ‘Action Incompatible with Diplomatic Status’
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
“… as Estonian and Lithuanian security agencies have pointed out in the past, roughly a third of all Russian “diplomats” in the Baltic countries have links to Moscow’s security services, with many not only spying but working to undermine these states.”
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"Estonia has compiled an impressive record in identifying and expelling Russian officials who violate the rules of diplomatic practice not only by spying but by working against the Estonian government.”



- Is Atlanticism on the decline?
By Edward Lucas
(CEPA)
"These are tough times for the Atlanticist faithful in Central Europe. Public opinion is no longer on our side. … The political difficulties should not disguise the fact that the alliance’s biggest military problem, the defense of the Baltic states, is now mostly solved. Russia could still conquer them—but only at the price of all-out war, and by killing British, French and German soldiers, among others. Never in their history have Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania been safer.”

- NATO Without America?
(The American Interest)
"The Europeans need us, and we need them - let’s not call the whole thing off."



✔︎ EUAngela Merkel Suggests Europe Can No Longer Rely on Trump’s America
(Slate | New York Times | Deutsche Welle)
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent her strongest message yet that Europe is drifting apart from the United States under President Donald Trump. Speaking at a campaign rally in Munich, Merkel came to the stark conclusion that Europe’s alliances that have held together much of the West after World War II “are to some extent over. This is what I have experienced in the last few days.”
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- Merkel Stopped Relying on President Trump Only After Failing to Reason With Him
(Time)

- Germans wonder why Trump keeps lashing out at them 
(Washington Post)

- How the world reacted to Merkel's pivot to Europe
(Deutsche Welle)

- What Was Merkel Thinking?
(Spiegel)
"An historical turning point or mere campaign bluster?"



EU: Macron and Putin’s awkward first date
(Politico-Europe)

"The new French President struck a firm, at times defiant, tone. There was even a flash of anger when the subject of election hacking was brought up. He said Russian state-backed media outlets RT and Sputnik “did not behave like press outlets, but behaved like agents of influence and propaganda” which spread “serious falsehoods.”
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“I will never give in to that,” he said while standing next to Putin."

- French President Calls Out Putin During Summit, Sounds Like What U.S. Presidents Used to Sound Like
(Slate)

- Macron võõrustas Putinit Versailles’ lossis
(ERR)
"Macron on karmilt kritiseerinud Krimmi poolsaare liitmist Venemaaga ja on öelnud, et Putini Venemaa ei ole vaba demokraatia."

- Trump's Trip Was a Catastrophe for U.S.-Europe Relations
(The Atlantic)
"Angela Merkel has served formal notice that she will lead the German wandering away from the American alliance."

- Trump Remains a NATO Skeptic
(The Atlantic)
“… he may come to regret his failure to affirm U.S. support for the alliance."

Opinion: For the U.S.-European alliance, everything has changed
(Washington Post)
"At no point did the president even appear to understand the issues at stake either."






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- Russia -
"Trust No One"
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✔︎ How the Trump administration’s secret efforts to ease Russia sanctions fell short
by Michael Isikoff
(Yahoo News)

"Unknown to the public at the time, top Trump administration officials, almost as soon as they took office, tasked State Department staffers with developing proposals for the lifting of economic sanctions, the return of diplomatic compounds and other steps to relieve tensions with Moscow.”
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"These efforts to relax or remove punitive measures imposed by President Obama in retaliation for Russia’s intervention in Ukraine and meddling in the 2016 election alarmed some State Department officials, who immediately began lobbying congressional leaders to quickly pass legislation to block the move, the sources said."



Commentary: What does Russia want?
by Kadri Liik 
(ECFR)
"Russia does not intend to restore the Soviet Union – it knows full well that this is simply not possible. Nor does it seek to unify the Russian-speaking lands. In the speech where he announced the takeover of Crimea, Putin did refer to the Russian nation as “one of the biggest, if not the biggest ethnic group in the world to be divided by borders,” thus indeed signalling an ethnocentric approach to foreign affairs. But this has remained a one-off case – he has never returned to this line of reasoning."
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"What Russia truly wants in terms of territory is a sphere of control in its neighbourhood – mainly, the six countries that lie between the EU and Russia and comprise what the EU calls its Eastern neighbourhood: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Moscow expects these countries to be sensitive to Moscow’s wishes; it wants to have the ability to manage, arbitrate, and veto their relations with the West, and to prevent the expansion of Western organisations into that part of the world …"



- Idealizing Soviet Past Will Lead to Another 1917 and Another 1991, Historian Says
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
"That is because failing to take into account the mistakes that were made by the Russian Empire and by the Soviet state will prevent its Russian successor from correcting them and thus avoiding what happened to those two regimes, according to the historian (Andrey Kostryukov) at St. Tikhon’s Orthodox Humanities University."

- Many Russians Will Not Live to See End of Country’s Economic Crisis, Moscow Experts Say



- Despite Enormous Risks, Young Russians Flock to Aleksei Navalny, Putin’s Toughest Critic
by Anna Nemtsova
(The Daily Beast)
"Across the country, impressed by his constant displays of courage, young Russians follow the corruption fighter who seems not to fear a prison term, physical assaults, or worse. Another charismatic young opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, was gunned down just outside the Kremlin walls two years ago."



- Russia escalates spy games after years of U.S. neglect
(Politico-Europe)
“We’ve definitely been ignoring Russia for the last 15 years,” another intelligence official said, calling the Kremlin “resurgent.” … The Obama administration’s tentativeness in the weeks leading up to Nov. 8 - especially in the high-stakes context of a presidential election - is something that still bewilders corners of the intelligence world."

- Putin: Russia doesn’t hack but patriotic individuals might
(AP)
"President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that some “patriotic” individuals may have engaged in hacking but insisted Russia as a country has never done it, and he pledged Thursday to wait out U.S. political battles to forge constructive ties with President Donald Trump."



Belarus: The Hottest Summer Vacation Spot Is In Putin's Backyard
(The Daily Beast)
"One of the most isolated countries in Europe has opened up its doors to American travelers for the first time … The typically tight-lipped Belorussian government announced in January that U.S. passport holders and 79 other nationalities would be allowed to travel to the country visa-free for the first time ever. The change, which allows tourists to stay in the country for a maximum of five days and mandates that they enter and exit via the Minsk airport, put an end to a drastically bureaucratic and often cost-prohibitive visa application system that stymied Belarus's tourism industry - and cut the country off from much of the world."



Welcome to The Machine: Inside the Secretive World of RT
(The Moscow Times)
“In January, the former U.S. director of national intelligence released a report on Russia’s alleged hack of the 2016 U.S. election. The 14-page document dedicated six pages to detailing RT’s operations and connections to the Kremlin."
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"The high-level attention suggests that RT is a media powerhouse. But several former RT employees suggested otherwise, referring to “disorganization” within the newsroom, to the extent that it has even had an impact on RT delivering its message. … Problems within RT have remained unreported largely because employees are nervous about talking with journalists. … Almost all of them described a sense of fear and paranoia when it comes to discussing RT outside of work."
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"Several sources reported that they had been asked to sign non-disparagement agreements. RT asked, and by some accounts pressured, reporters to sign the document in 2014 amid the crisis in Ukraine. … A source said the document had come about following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, and the (on-air) resignation of British reporter Sara Firth."

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