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15 June, 2018



✔︎ "If Russia invades, US Special Operations Forces have an unconventional plan to liberate the Baltics."  
- see 'Trojan Footprint 18'


✔︎ According to the WORLD Policy Analysis Center, Estonia guarantees 14 weeks of paid leave to new fathers to take care of infants. 
- NPR


✔︎ Küüditamisohvrite mälestuseks tekkis Vabaduse väljakule 'Pisarate meri’  - Postimees


✔︎ "From a military point of view, Nato has rarely looked in better shape. Politically, it is in tatters. That is the paradox facing the alliance as it approaches its summit in Brussels next month.”  
- Edward Lucas 


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- Stamp image:


- 2014-2018 Archive:



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Trojan Footprint 18
“Training for a covert, special 
operations-led resistance"
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- NATO is once again practicing for the worst
By Anne Applebaum
(Washington Post)
"Scruffy, yellowish-brown buildings are bunched around a long courtyard; portable toilets and generators have been set up on the dusty ground beside. Inside, military-grade laptops, the kind that don’t break if you drop them, are arrayed along a series of tables, their cables spooling off onto the floor. Men from different countries, some dressed in camouflage, talk in low voices. A large map of Europe’s Baltic coast has been projected onto one of the walls, with different colored markers scattered across it.
“… This is the transatlantic alliance in practice. It’s the temporary headquarters of Trojan Footprint, the largest NATO special forces training exercise in recent memory, an operation involving more than 2,000 conventional and unconventional troops from more than a dozen countries, including Germany, Britain, Canada, Belgium, and even Sweden. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, and that’s partly the point …"



- Trojan Footprint
(Shadow Spear)
“Estonia is one of the very few countries in NATO who have integrated unconventional warfare plans into its standing defense plans. ESTSOF together with specific EDL units has a very important role as a main facilitator of unconventional warfare in Estonia,” said Estonian Special Operations Commander Col. Riho Ühtegi. “Trojan Footprint 18 put these plans to the test. Having completed this exercise both Estonian SOF as well as their NATO allies have a better understanding of how they integrate and operate together in the defense of Estonia.“




- If Russia Invades, US Special Operations Forces Have an Unconventional Plan to Liberate the Baltics
(Daily Signal)
"Trojan Footprint was a dry run for the covert, special operations-led resistance war—known in military circles as unconventional warfare—that would precede a conventional NATO counteroffensive to reverse a Russian invasion of the Baltics."
--
"Participating from the U.S. side: U.S. Army Special Forces (the “Green Berets”) from the European-based 10th Special Forces Group, as well as U.S. Navy SEALs, and a U.S. Air Force special operations air task unit flying CV-22 Ospreys and MC-130 Talons. Also, U.S. F-16 fighters, B-1 bombers, and AC-130 gunships took part in the exercise.”
--
"U.S. military officials do not shy away from openly stating that one of the exercise’s key overall objectives is to deter Russia from military aggression in the Baltic region. “I put a lot of stock in the deterrent effect of us being here,” U.S. Army Col. Lawrence Ferguson said. “Our constant presence in the Baltics sends a clear signal that we’re going to take any sort of shenanigans seriously. I think that’s an important message to send.” The Special Forces commander paused, narrowed his eyes a touch, and added: “Going to war with America is no joke.”



- 2,000 NATO, Partner Special Operations Forces rapidly deploy to Baltics for Trojan Footprint 18
(DVID)
"Trojan Footprint is a biennial U.S. Special Operations Command Europe-led exercise that incorporates U.S., NATO and European partner special operations forces. This year’s exercise included special operations forces from: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and the U.S., as well as the armed forces of Sweden and the U.K."



- US to push NATO to stand up more than 30 battalions in Europe to counter Russia
(SOFREP - 9. June)
“We have an adversary (Russia) that can move quickly into the Baltics and Poland in a ground attack,” said one NATO diplomat who requested that his identity be withheld. “We don’t have the luxury of taking months to mobilize.”




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Friday 15. June
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Naised Eesti Kaitseväes: Motivatsioon, suhtumine, kogemused ja väljakutsed
(Diplomaatia)
"Teenistuses olevate naiste arvu suurendamine on nii ühiskondlik kui ka poliitiline vajadus, mis aitab riigi relvajõududel joonduda laiemate ühiskondlike trendide ja väärtuste süsteemi järgi, mis omakorda aitab säilitada relvajõudude legitiimsust. Samuti on see tegelikult ka vahend viimaks sõjalise organisatsiooni olemasolu põhiliste eesmärkideni – sõjalise võimekuse suurendamise ning riigile parema sõjalise kaitse tagamiseni.”



- Ülikoolid ei näe ingliskeelse õppe kasvus ohtu eesti keelele
(ERR)
"Viimase kümne aasta jooksul on Eesti ülikoolides ingliskeelne õpe aina laienenud, selgub kõrgkoolide õppekeelsuse uuringust. Ohtu eesti keelele ülikoolid selles ei näe."

- Milline on eesti keele tulevik koolides?
(Reporter video)

- Nonprofit organisation Russian School in Estonia is against broader teaching of Estonian in kindergartens
(ERR)
"Nearly 80% of the population, including Estonian and Russian-speakers alike, found that Estonian-language instruction should begin at the kindergarten level.”



- Finno-Ugric Maris have Long Looked to Estonia, Finland and Hungary
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
"The roughly 600,000 Maris, a Finno-Ugric nation in the Middle Volga, have long looked to the larger and now independent Finno-Ugric nations of Estonia, Finland, and Hungary for inspiration and support. Their interest has been reciprocated – and Moscow doesn’t like it.”



- Russia to gain most from Nato row
by Edward Lucas
(The Times)
"From a military point of view, Nato has rarely looked in better shape. Politically, it is in tatters. That is the paradox facing the alliance as it approaches its summit in Brussels next month.”
"The alliance’s greatest asset is the collective-defence commitment in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. An attack on any member risks incurring a response from all. But in the event of a surprise Russian incursion into the Baltic states, would the American commander-in-chief, woken in the White House in the small hours, order American troops to fight? Would he phone Mr Putin and try to strike a deal? Or shrug and go back to sleep? We don’t know."


- Trump’s next target: NATO’s July summit
(Politico-Europe)
"After watching the G7 train wreck aghast, senior officials at NATO headquarters are quaking in their boots at the prospect of hosting a summit of the Western defense alliance featuring a raging Donald Trump in Brussels."
--
"Far from showcasing transatlantic unity and resolve, they fear the 24-hour gathering of leaders of the 29-nation alliance, scheduled for about a month from now, could turn into round 2 of the rumble in Quebec, with the U.S. president on the rampage against the Europeans and Canadians over their allegedly unfair trade surpluses and puny military spending, leaving NATO in tatters.”


Merkel says Germany won't make NATO spending target until 2024
(Deutsche Welle)
"Defense spending is hugely unpopular in Germany, and its military has long been suffering from outdated equipment and a lack of necessary supplies. The constitutional limitations on what Germany's post-war military is permitted to do is also often cited as a reason against increased defense spending. However, uneven spending between NATO allies has become a major bugbear for US President Donald Trump, who blasted Europe during a recent G7 meeting in Canada."


Opinion: What’s next for the West?
(Politico)


Opinion: Trump’s America does not care
by Robert Kagan
(Washington Post)
"The United States’ allies are about to find out what real unilateralism looks like and what the real exercise of U.S. hegemony feels like, because Trump’s America does not care. It is unencumbered by historical memory. It recognizes no moral, political or strategic commitments. It feels free to pursue objectives without regard to the effect on allies or, for that matter, the world. It has no sense of responsibility to anything beyond itself. ..."



- Which Countries Guarantee That New Dads Get Paid Paternity Leave?
(NPR)





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2018 G7 Summit
"The Train Wreck Edition"
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- The G-7 summit made it clear that Trump is intent on treating America's allies worse than its enemies
(multiple sources)
"Putin Doesn’t Want Back in G8 - He Aims to Destroy It.”
--
--

- Press Conference by Trump After G7 Summit
(White House transcript)




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Thursday 14. June
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- Küüditamisohvrite mälestuseks tekkis Vabaduse väljakule 'Pisarate meri'
(Postimees)
"Juuniküüditamise 77. aastapäeval meenutatakse 1941. aasta küüditamisohvreid Tallinnas mälestustseremoonia ja 'Pisarate mere' installatsiooniga Vabaduse väljakul."

 Foto: Joakim Klementi
- Dokumentaalne joonistus küüditamisvagunist
(Postimees)

- Estonia commemorates victims of 1941 June Deportations
(ERR)

Photos: Deported Estonians in Siberia
(Estonian World)

- Latvia commemorates victims of 1941 deportations
(Latvian Broadcasting)



Propaganda: Baltic Brutality
(EU vs Disinfo)
[Recent false stories about Latvia and Lithuania.]

- Moscow Commentator Says Putin and Trump Understand Propaganda; Their Liberal Opponents Don’t
(Window on Eurasia)
"Propaganda is always directed only toward the masses and not to the intelligentsia. Therefore, its level must be oriented to the abilities of its acceptance by the most limited among those on whom it is intended to have an impact. … This principle is observed 100 percent of the time everywhere and always where propaganda works.”
“Good sense never defeats propaganda.” 



- Interview with Kersti Kaljulaid
(New Eastern Europe)
[Kaljulaid was interviewed by Hungarian weekly Heti Válasz.]



- Finnish Prosecutor: Pro-Kremlin Trolls Destroyed Journalist’s Life
(Up North)
"Jessikka Aro, a well known Finnish journalist with the country’s national broadcaster, has been the target of Finnish and Russian pro-Kremlin trolls after exposing the Kremlin’s social media troll factory in St. Petersburg in 2014. .. Well known Finnish pro-Putin extremist, Johan Bäckman, was among the first to attack Ms. Aro. Bäckman has actively worked to deny the occupation of the Baltic States and is the self appointed Finnish and EU ambassador to Russian occupied areas of Donbas and set up the so-called “embassy of Novorossiya” in Finland."

"In 2007, Bäckman became very active in Estonian politics when a Soviet Red Army monument was relocated from the center of the capital, Tallinn …"

"On 26 April 2009, Bäckman was detained after his disembarkation from a ferry in the Tallinn Passenger Port and expelled from the country under an entry prohibition. The Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed that Johan Bäckman has been declared persona non grata in Estonia. On 29 July 2011, Bäckman was again denied entry into Estonia and sent back to Finland."



- "America First" Will Cost Europe
(Foreign Affairs)
"Could Trump's Neglect Undo the EU?"

- Recovering From the Trump Foreign Policy
by Daniel Byman
(Lawfare)
“… whoever takes his place, whether in 2021 or 2025, will have to manage the fallout from all this chaos and fix his many mistakes."

- Has Trump Irreversibly Altered the GOP's Foreign Policy?
(The Atlantic)
"As on so many fronts, the portions of the GOP resistant to Trump’s insular vision have managed barely a peep in protest. ...”

- EU retaliates against Trump trade tariffs
(Euronews)







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Wednesday 13. June
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- Air Defence of the Baltic States
(ICDS)
"As concerns the Baltic states, there is broad agreement that a lack of air defence is today their biggest military capability shortfall. The three states have built a system for peacetime air surveillance, command and control, but deficiencies in communications networks, nodes and personnel makes this inadequate for managing an air defence posture in times of crisis. For air defence weapon systems, the Baltic states possess only legacy anti-aircraft guns and short-range missile systems. Together, these systems fall far short of the requirements for a robust, integrated air defence of Baltic territories in times of crisis or war."

- Estonia to buy missiles, air defense system in EUR50M deal
(Washington Post | ERR)
“… includes training missiles, simulators, testing and maintenance equipment for delivery starting in 2020. The agreement includes an option for Estonia to acquire additional Mistral missiles worth up to 100 million euros."

- Eesti ostab 50 miljoni eest lühimaa õhutõrjerakette Mistral
(ERR)



- Europe And Nord Stream 2
Myths, Reality, and the Way Forward
by Margarita Assenova
(CEPA)

- Everything you want to know about Nord Stream 2 but were afraid to ask
(Euromaidan)

- Should Germany Dump Nord Stream 2?
(Carnegie Europe)



- Kaljulaid hakkab Narvas tööle Narva kolledžis
(ERR)
"President Kersti Kaljulaid koos paarikümne kantselei töötajaga hakkab oma Narvas viibimise ajal tööle Tartu Ülikooli Narva Kolledžis ja ööbib külalistemajas Elektra."



- Lääne-Venemaal algas suurõppus
(Postimees | ERR)
"Rohkem kui 30 000 Lääne sõjaväeringkonna sõjaväelast, raketikompleksid Iskander ja S-400 kaasati massihävitusrelva eest kaitsmise õppusesse, edastas Lääne sõjaväeringkond."



- EU ready to fund some projects to speed military deployments
(Baltic Times)
"The European Union could make billions of euros available to upgrade bridges and roads so its member countries and NATO are able to rapidly deploy troops in times of crisis. The European Commission has proposed a budget of EUR 6.5 billion …"



- Amendments passed allowing Estonian defense contractors to handle weapons
(ERR)
"Thus far, armaments and ammunition have been acquired from abroad for the most part, according to the minister, Now, however, the situation is changing, and the export opportunities of Estonia's defence contractors will increase as well. Under the amendments, operating licences will be issued exclusively to companies registered and operating in Estonia, and entrepreneurs, owners, managers, responsible officials and employees will have to pass a background check. The bill estimated that five or six domestic companies will apply for permits during the first year …”



- Latvia's KGB files have info on at least 4,650 people
(Latvian Broadcasting)
"The KGB files in question would identify part of KGB agents who were recruited from 1944 to 1991. Most of these persons each have one file, but some have two or even three files. Some of these persons are referred to as candidates for recruitment. It appears from the documents that KGB recruited agents across all layers of society - students, including minors, kolkhoz workers, cultural and education workers, scientists, the clergy, and others.”



Declassified KGB files: Chernobyl nuclear disaster was tragedy in the making
(Euromaidan)
"The first document, dated 1973, is a staff report listing the violations of the building codes during the construction of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. What is extremely important, the documents reveal the carelessness and disregard for safety the communist regime displayed not only in green-lighting the substandard project but in the construction of the plant, too. It could be argued that the explosion had been preset because of the shoddy work and devil-may-care attitude.”
[The declassified documents are only available in Russian. Hopefully they will be translated in the near future.]



- Anthony Bourdain: mees, kes muutis meie mõtlemist toidust
(Delfi)

 Anthony Bourdain loved making Finland episode in 2012
(Yle)



- Niinistö rejects interpretation about defence deal between Finland, Sweden and US
(Helsinki Times)
“… he disagrees with the interpretation that the statement of intent on defence policy co-operation signed by Finland, Sweden and the United States in May has taken the two Nordic countries closer to joining Nato."



- Norway wants to double US troops near Russia
(Deutsche Welle | Axios)
"Oslo's announcement followed a call on Friday by nine nations along NATO's eastern flank, including Estonia, Poland and Romania, for a stronger alliance presence."





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Monday 11. June
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- Cornerstone for €250m Finland-Estonia gas pipeline Balticconnector laid 
(Strategest)
"A groundbreaking ceremony was held in this regard at Inkoo, Finland on the compressor station worksite of the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which is scheduled to be completed by 2020."



- Kremlin’s ‘Russophobia’ Charges have Nothing to Do with Ethnicity, Everything with Politics
(Window on Eurasia)
 That becomes obvious if one looks at the latest list of people in Estonia Moscow has declared “Russophobes” whom it has banned from entering Russia. In addition to former president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Estonian foreign policy experts like Kristi Raik, Ivo Juurvee, Kalev Stoicescu, and Erkki Bahovski, and political activists like Andres Herkel, Henn Polluaas, Urmas Reitelmann, and Toomas Alatalu, there are some Russians and Ukrainians as well.”



- Tiigrihüpe: Inside Estonia’s EdTech Revolution
(Govinsider)



- Putini sõber liigutas raha Eesti kaudu
(Ärileht)



- Russians Newly Arrived in Latvia Appalled by Complaints of Their Co-Ethnics There
(Window on Eurasia)

- Ten Estonian companies participating in Paris defence industry fair
(ERR)
"Eurosatory 2018, Europe's largest land and airspace defence and security fair."






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Russia
Trust No One"
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- Three Largest Russian Militant Training Facilities Identified
(Window on Eurasia)
"The first of these is the Wolf International Center which has branches “not only in Russia but also in Hungary, Serbia, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Greece and Taiwan” … The second is the Kadyrov Center in Gudermes, Chechnya. … And the third is the Partisan Center in St. Petersburg.”
"There are numerous other centers across the Russian Federation including in Pskov …” [not far from the southeastern border with Estonia.]  



- Russian Northern Fleet Sails 36 Ships in No-Notice Exercise on their way out to the Barents Sea
(Special Operations)



- Putin Reappoints Administration, Retaining Kremlin’s Core
(The Moscow Times)
"President Vladimir Putin has reappointed virtually his entire administration in a salvo of decrees, including Chief of Staff Anton Vaino, spokesman Dmitry Peskov and the Kremlin’s one-time “gray cardinal” Vladislav Surkov.”



- Forty-Five Things I Learned in the Gulag
(The Paris Review)
"For fifteen years the Russian writer Varlam Shalamov was imprisoned in the Gulag for participating in “counter-revolutionary Trotskyist activities.” He endured six of those years enslaved in the gold mines of Kolyma, one of the coldest and most hostile places on earth. While he was awaiting sentencing, one of his short stories was published in a journal called Literary Contemporary. He was released in 1951 …”

"The Kolyma Tales



- Russians In The Ex-U.S.S.R.: Then And Now
(RFERL)
"The size of the ethnic Russian community in the former Soviet Union has dropped significantly in recent decades."



✔︎ When Anthony Bourdain Called Out Putin and Trump—in Russia
(The Daily Beast)
"It’s difficult to imagine a world without Anthony Bourdain, its most trusted and noble traveler; a tender curmudgeon whose raison d’être was, simply put, to convince Americans that beyond their borders lay a world filled with unspeakable beauty.”
“Bad things seem to happen to critics of Vladimir Putin. Journalists, activists, even powerful oligarchs once seemingly untouchable are now fair game if they displease The Leader,” narrates Bourdain, before seguing to a restaurant dinner scene with Boris Nemtsov, a leading Putin critic. … On Feb. 27, 2015, just nine months after the episode aired, Nemtsov was assassinated, shot four times in the back while crossing a bridge near the Kremlin.”
"The episode ends with a defeated Bourdain describing—in voiceover—how Russia has recently annexed Crimea and amassed their troops at the Ukrainian border. “The world has done nothing. It will do nothing. As Vladimir well knew,” says Bourdain. “He wins. Again.”



- Polls: Younger, Wealthier Russians More Willing to Emigrate
(Moscow Times)
"One in five residents of Moscow have expressed a willingness to emigrate, according to the results of two polls that contrast the traveling habits of residents of the capital to those of other Russians. … While a quarter of nationwide respondents said they own a valid passport, and a third have traveled abroad at least once, that number is significantly higher among residents of Moscow, more than half of whom said they own a passport, while two-thirds have been abroad at least once."



- Kerch Bridge Playing Evil Trick on Crimean Occupiers, Russian Commentator Admits
(Window on Eurasia)
"Last weekend alone, nearly 50,000 residents of Crimea crossed the bridge into Russia. Conversations with some of them, the commentator says, show that they were impressed by how good things were compared to what they have become used to in occupied Crimea. Ilchenko suggests that given such comparisons, they are likely to become far more demanding. …"



- Belarus and Russia Have Become Frenemies
(Riddle)

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