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27 July, 2018



✔︎ "Pühapäeval sünnib kuumarekord" | "Hellish heat descends on Estonia"
(multiple sources) 


✔︎ "An intense heat dome has swelled over Scandinavia, pushing temperatures more than 20 degrees above normal and spurring some of the region’s hottest weather ever recorded. Even as far north as the Arctic Circle, the mercury has come close to 90 degrees. Normally, temperatures in Scandinavia during July warm to the comfortable 60s and 70s.”  


✔︎ "Steve Bannon plans a Europe-wide populist-right campaign, whose headquarters are expected to be located in Brussels."
(see news listing “The Movement”)



✔︎ It’s been nearly 2 weeks since the Helsinki Summit and there is still no information regarding the private 2 hour meeting between Putin and Trump. 

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- Foto:

- 2014-2018 Archive:



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Friday 27. July
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✔︎ Pühapäeval sünnib kuumarekord
(Delfi | Postimees | ERR)
"Riigi ilmateenistuse sünoptiku sõnul tuleb pühapäeval kuumarekord, milleks on kuni 34 C kraadi. (93 F)"

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Washington Post
"45 days over 25C so far - Finnish Meteorological Institute”

"In southern Finland, Turku hit 91.9 degrees (33.3 Celsius) Tuesday, which was the highest temperature since 1914 when it reached 96.6 degrees (35.9 Celsius)."


"Toxic algae triggered by heat wave hits Poland's Baltic coast."


"In the town of Sodankyla, Finland, the thermometer on July 17 registered a record-breaking 90 degrees, a remarkable figure given that Sodankyla is 59 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in a region known for winter snowmobiling and an abundance of reindeer.”



- Põhja-Euroopa kuumalaine on seotud ülemaailmse kliima soojenemisega
(Delfi)

- Juhtkiri: aeg mõelda ilmast
(Postimees)

Kliimamuutus: Will climate change affect the Baltic Sea region?
 (EstoNews 1. June)

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- Joint Baltic American National Committee Thanks Congress for NATO Support
(JBANC - Press release)
"We thank the U.S. government for its strong support of the region to date in the form of Enhanced Forward Presence, European Deterrence Initiative funding, the National Guard state partnership program, and joint exercises – and call for the continuation of these programs. A permanent U.S. military presence in the Baltics would be a further sign of U.S. support and would bolster the alliance’s deterrence effectiveness in the region."





- Vabadussõja võidusamba remondist: küürakat parandab vaid haud
(Delfi)
"Eesti Kunstiakadeemia (EKA) rektor ja arhitektuuriteadlane Mart Kalm ütles Vabadussõja võidusamba järjekordset remonti kommenteerides, et küürakat parandab vaid haud. …"



- Secret of the chosen: draft dodgers pay fine
(Postimees - 16. July)
"Approximately one thousand young men in Estonia pay the state more than 150,000 euros fines for the privilege of evading compulsory military service. The top of the list is occupied by men working in Finland, sons of well-known businessmen and even athletes."




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Thursday 26. July
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- Estonia Intelligence chief: network of operatives pushing Russian agenda in West
(UNIAN | Radio Poland | VOA)
“We [Estonian intelligence] have detected a network of politicians, journalists, diplomats, business people who are actually Russian influence agents and who are doing what they are told to do,” Mikk Marran, the director general of Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service said Friday, speaking of Moscow’s efforts in the West. “We see clearly that those people are pushing Russia's agenda,” Marran told an audience at the annual Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado."
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"USA-s vahistatud väidetav Vene naisspioon käis ka Eestis."


- Maria Butina: ties emerge between NRA, alleged spy and Russian billionaire
(The Guardian - Uk)
"Senior members of the National Rifle Association (NRA) met the wife of the Russian billionaire who allegedly gave financial support to a woman accused of being a secret agent for Moscow in the US. … No senior NRA official has made any public statement about Butina’s case."


- Russian agent Maria Butina may have had connections in Latvia
(Leta)
"The Security Police confirmed to LETA that Butina had not been on their radar until recently and are currently looking into so-called practical shooting enthusiasts connected with Russia and their possible association with Latvia."



- USA ei anna heakskiitu Krimmi liitmisele Venemaaga
(ERR)
"USA välisminister Mike Pompeo kinnitas kolmapäeval, et Ühendriigid ei tunnusta Krimmi poolsaare liitmist Venemaaga."

- Estonia welcomes the US declaration of non-recognition of Crimea annexation
(ERR)
"Minister of Foreign Affairs Sven Mikser (SDE) on Wednesday welcomed the Crimea Declaration issued by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo affirming the US' non-recognition of the occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia."


- The Crimea Declaration 
(US State Department)

- The Roots of Pompeo’s Declaration in Support of Crimea
(The Atlantic)
"Pompeo rooted his remarks in the Welles Declaration, which refused to recognize the then-Soviet Union’s invasion of the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The declaration, named for Sumner Welles, the U.S. diplomat who crafted it, remained a cornerstone of U.S. policy toward the Soviet Union for the next five decades, and empowered Baltic citizens who wished for independence from the Kremlin."

"Poroshenko thanks U.S. for 'Crimea Declaration,' non-recognition of Kremlin's attempt to annex Ukrainian Crimea."



- Protests staged across Poland as controversial judicial reform law signed
(Deutsche Well)

- Is Poland Retreating from Democracy?
(The New Yorker)
"The history of the Second World War hangs over current political debates."



Opinion: The Baltic split - America First and Europe First
(Postimees)
"As former Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves put it on Twitter: "The past week – at NATO, in the UK, in comments about ‘foes', etc., add up to the most disruptive, unilateral disruption of 70+ years of U.S. foreign policy. The continuity is important. Disrupt like this and it will take decades to re-establish trust."



- Estonia views results of Trump-Juncker meeting positively
(ERR)


“(Juncker) had gifted Trump a picture of a military cemetery in Luxembourg where Gen. George S. Patton Jr. is buried. “Dear Donald,” Juncker inscribed the photo, “let's remember our common history.”

- Europe breathes ‘sigh of relief’ after Juncker’s trip to Washington
(Politico-Europe)

- Junckeri ja Trumpi kokkulepe on Eestile kasulik
(ERR)
"See on väga märgiline ja väga oluline kohtumine, väga oluline kokkulepe. Tegelikult olid Ameerika ja Euroopa arutelud kaubavahetuse teemadel ju juba päris pikka aega hästi-hästi teravad. Mingis mõttes on nüüd pööratud uus lehekülg ja minnakse edasi positiivselt, konstruktiivselt ja töötatakse tariifide vähendamise ja mitte nende kehtestamise ja suurendamise osas." 

- European Commissioner Used Colorful, ‘Very Simple’ Cards to Explain Trade to Trump
(New York Magazine)
"Each card had at most three figures about a specific topic, such as trade in cars or standards for medical devices. “We knew this wasn’t an academic seminar,” the EU official said. “It had to be very simple.”

- Europeans are skeptical of trade truce
(Washington Post)
"European officials are struggling to make sense of what seems a temporary trade war truce between President Trump and the European Union, following the visit of E.U. leaders to Washington this week. Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, announced Wednesday that they had agreed to work toward resolving disputes over steel and aluminum tariffs, delay proposed car tariffs and talk about a bilateral trade deal."






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The Movement"
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- The EU: In Stormy Seas
(Carnegie Europe)
"Populist and nationalist forces are preparing a major offensive to overturn European politics. The stakes could not be higher."

- Inside Steve Bannon's Plan to Hijack Europe for the Far-Right
(The Daily Beast)
"Trump’s former White House chief advisor told The Daily Beast that he is setting up a foundation in Europe called The Movement which he hopes will lead a right-wing populist revolt across the continent starting with the European Parliament elections next spring. Over the past year, Bannon has held talks with right-wing groups across the continent from Nigel Farage and members of Marine Le Pen’s Front National (recently renamed Rassemblement National) in the West, to Hungary’s Viktor Orban and the Polish populists in the East."
--
"He envisions a right-wing “supergroup” within the European Parliament that could attract as many as a third of the lawmakers after next May’s Europe-wide elections. A united populist bloc of that size would have the ability to seriously disrupt parliamentary proceedings, potentially granting Bannon huge power within the populist movement."
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Interview: Steve Bannon
(CNBC video)



Pro-Trump, But Not Pro-America: Europe’s Populists Are Divided
By Leonid Bershidsky
(Bloomberg)
"The efforts of Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump’s ambassador to Berlin, and Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon to strengthen the European far right have a certain logic to them: A changed America is looking for different allies. This search, however, will have to be highly selective: Some of the continent’s populists and nationalists aren’t just anti-liberal and anti-immigrant, but also fundamentally anti-American."

- A hot summer is giving Europe’s populists a boost
(The Economist)
"In Sweden, Italy and elsewhere, angry politicians are high in the polls."

- Steve Bannon plans Europe-wide populist right campaign
(BBC | Reuters | others)
"But his plans have provoked a sharp response from across the political spectrum. While one German minister attacked Steve Bannon's "hatred and lies", some populist figures in Europe were unimpressed with the idea of an American vowing publicly to unite them from a Brussels headquarters. In the words of European studies specialist Alexander Clarkson, "most of these parties are set on anti-Americanism".
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Wednesday 25. July
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- Trump says no new tariffs against EU after parties agree to trade negotiations
(Multiple sources)
"U.S. President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that the United States will pause its plans to impose new tariffs against the European Union and work to resolve existing differences over trade in an attempt to avoid a full-blown trade war."
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- Saving NATO
By Scott R. Anderson
(Lawfare)
“… Both international and U.S. domestic law give Trump an immense amount of control over the U.S. relationship with NATO. While some avenues may exist for constraining the president’s actions, they are limited and in many cases untested. This ability to act on his views despite widespread opposition is ultimately what makes Trump’s rhetoric so dangerous to the NATO alliance and its ability to deter external threats.”
"That said, there is one notable limit on this capability: Under Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty, any member state that wishes to withdraw from NATO must provide notice at least one year in advance.”
"Trump has made clear that he believes he can withdraw from NATO without seeking congressional approval, consistent with the mainstream position discussed above. This leaves Congress without any clear mechanism for blocking such action. And even if Congress passed a law opposing withdrawal, it seems unlikely that the executive branch would consider itself bound to respect the legislature’s wishes.”




- There is One Trump - Melania - who Doesn’t Like Putin
(Window on Eurasia)
"Donald Trump may love Vladimir Putin, but his wife doesn’t, Russians say in commenting on the reaction of the American First Lady to her handshake with the Kremlin leader in Helsinki. And she has good reasons ..."

- In First Lady’s Hometown in Slovenia, the Business Is Melania
(New York Times)
[A look at the town of Sevnica, 90 minutes from the capital, Ljubljana.]




- Swedish Woman Shows Quiet Power of Civil Disobedience as She Blocks a Deportation
(The Intercept)
"As documented in the remarkable video she streamed live to Facebook on Monday during her protest, Elin Ersson, 21, boarded a plane in Gothenburg, Sweden, where she is studying to be a social worker, and remained standing to prevent the flight from departing for Turkey.






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Tuesday 24. July
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- Anvelt nimetas riigikontrolöri kriitikat piiriehituse osas alusetuks
(ERR)
"Siseminister Andres Anvelti sõnul on alusetu riigikontrolör Janar Holmi eelmisel nädalal tehtud kriitika, et piiritaristu rajamise plaanid on väheinformatiivsed, kuna neis pole esitatud alternatiivseid võimalusi ja nende maksumust."



- Belarus’s Second Front: Is Lukashenko Really Afraid of Russia?
(Carnegie Moscow)
"It is an open question whether the Belarusian authorities really believe the Kremlin poses a threat to the country’s sovereignty, or whether they are simply attempting to dress up their usual repressive behavior in pretty packaging for the West."



- Putin urges NATO to quit ‘irresponsibly' developing ties with Ukraine, Georgia
(BNN | Newsweek)
"Now, large territories in both countries are controlled by Russian soldiers. This is seen by Kyiv, Tbilisi, the Baltic states and the West as illegal occupation, while Moscow insists Russian troop presence is in line with the will of local populations."

- Report: Russia Has Sent Thousands of Troops and Weapons to its Western Border

- Russian Defense Minister Threatens Response if Sweden and Finland Join NATO



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Monday 23. July
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- Estonia no longer NATO darling for defence spending
(ERR)
"Last year was the first time that we were no longer the darling. We were told that we are a country on the border, that this two percent no longer sells, and that our absolute amounts are ridiculous.” - Ministry of Defence Undersecretary for Defense Planning Meelis Oidsalu

- What would a world without NATO look like
(Handelsblatt)



- Estonia places order with Saab for Carl-Gustaf ammunition
(Army Tech)

- The Carl-Gustaf M4 Multi-Role Weapon System

"The US Department of Defence has reportedly signed a contract worth more than $307.5 million for supplying foreign states with Javelin anti-tank systems, some of which will go to Estonia.” 



- Lithuania’s European Energy War
(The National Interest)
"Moscow is using every opportunity to boost its clout on the continent, while the European Union’s decision makers are up at night worrying about energy security."



- Russian investigators say Lithuania is illegally prosecuting Soviet soldiers responsible for 1991 violence
(Meduza)



- Euroopa Liidu riikide kodanikud võivad saada õiguse teenida Saksamaa relvajõududes
(Postimees)

- German army mulls recruiting foreign EU nationals to boost recruitment
( Deutsche Welle)



- Vene juurdluskomitee algatas kriminaalasja Leedu kohtunike suhtes
(ERR)






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Russia
Trust No One"
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- Putin’s Russia becomes Trump’s America
(Brookings Institute)
"Putin’s Russia has affected Trump’s America in ways that go beyond their involvement in the 2016 campaign. In Trump’s America, there is no such thing as truth. The most amazing thing about Trump is the way he holds on to his lies in spite of clear evidence to the contrary. Whether it is the size of his inaugural crowds or his words about groping women, factual evidence doesn’t matter. Most recently he declassified materials that he says “prove” that law enforcement misled the courts when they obtained permission to investigate an aide suspected of being a Russian agent, but the actual materials point to just the opposite conclusion."



- Moscow celebrates another disgraceful American concession after Helsinki
by Paul Goble
(Euromaidan)
“The US Department of State removed from its website a report on the downing of the Malaysian passenger liner MH17 that included a condemnation of Russia for its role in that horrific event. Not surprisingly, Moscow is pleased, especially because it is linking this act to the recent Helsinki summit."




- Vladimir Putin’s Russia is a creaking ship. Don’t fall for the propaganda
(The Guardian)
“There are three Russias. The first is Putin’s Russia, built on an oligarchic power structure and its massive propaganda machine. The second is the average man’s Russia, with its many facets but also its common problems. The third is of the professional elites and upper-middle class, who benefited from the economic boom of the 2000s and now have much to lose."



- Russia's State Duma appoints an avowed Stalinist to head its Culture Committee
(Meduza)
“… Elena Yampolskaya … is infamous for her statements in support of Joseph Stalin and Russia’s ban on so-called “gay propaganda.”



- Russians hacked into US electric utilities
(The Conversation)
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has revealed that Russian government hackers have gained deep access to hundreds of U.S. electrical utility companies, gaining far more access to the operations of many more companies than previously disclosed by federal officials."

My terrifying deep dive into one of Russia's largest hacking forums
by Dylan Curran
(The Guardian)
"From passports to credit cards, nothing is safe."



- Russia, Accused of Faking News, Unfurls Its Own ‘Fake News’ Bill
(New York Times)



- A Theory of Trump Kompromat
(The New Yorker)
"Why the President is so nice to Putin, even when Putin might not want him to be."



- Russian Deceptive Propaganda Growing Fast in Latin America
(Dialogo)
"The objective of Russian propaganda operations in Latin America is not to convince audiences as to the merits of Russian policy, to boost the image of Russia, or to promote a Russian world view, but rather to erode confidence in western institutions such as democracy and free trade, as well as western-dominated sources of information.”
"In 2017, former U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster and Congressman Marco Rubio asserted that Russian misinformation campaigns were being used to shape outcomes in several upcoming Latin American elections, including Brazilian, Colombian, and Mexican elections. Altering the political landscapes among critical U.S. allies from friendly to more adversarial environments would be a huge victory for Moscow."

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