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25 August, 2018



✔ â€œMe ei unusta. Mitte kunagi.”
Tallinnas MaarjamÀel avati kommunismiohvrite memoriaal
- ERR | Postimees


✔ Five Lessons for Today from the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
- Window on Eurasia


✔ â€œ50 years ago, on the night of August 20-21, 1968, about 250,000 troops and other personnel from the U.S.S.R., Poland, Hungary, East Germany, and Bulgaria crossed into Czechoslovakia from the north, east, and south. With this operation the Soviet Union stopped the process of democratic reforms, known as the Prague Spring, which had spread throughout Czechoslovakia.”  - RFERL
- See 'Soviet Invasion of Czechoslovakia’ special article listing

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- On-line version:


- 2014-2018 Archive:



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Friday 24. August
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✔ Juhtkiri: me ei unusta. Mitte kunagi
(Postimees)
"Inimsusevastased kuriteod on aegumatud, kommunistlikud kuriteod kuuluvad nende hulka. Me ei tohi unustada ega unustagi kunagi repressioone, mis said osaks eesti rahvale eelmise sajandi okupatsioonireĆŸiimide kĂ€e lĂ€bi. Tallinnas MaarjamĂ€el avatud kommunismiohvrite memoriaal sĂŒmboliseerib mĂ€letamist. See on vaimne kants, mis sisendab meile enesekindlust. See on midagi niisugust, nagu me vajame."

- Indrek Treufeldt tutvustas kommunismiohvrite memoriaali
(ERR)
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✔ Five Lessons for Today from the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact
(via Paul Goble)
“
 text of a talk that was read out today at a conference in Tallinn on the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of August 23, 1939."



- Response to Russian threat varies widely in Europe
(Axios)
“The ‘full-scale defenders’ are the UK, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania."





- 2018 Ranking of countermeasures by the EU28 to the Kremlin’s subversion operations
(Kremlin Watch - Czech Republic)



- Isamaa soovib tÔsta kaitsekulutused tÔstmist 2,5 protsendini
(Delfi)



- Ratas kohtus Vilniuses Iisraeli peaministri Netanyahuga
(ERR)
"Nelja riigi peaministrid arutasid Euroopa Liidu ja Iisraeli suhteid, julgeolekuolukorda LĂ€his-Idas ja LÀÀnemere piirkonnas ning Venemaa tegevust Euroopa Liidu naabruses.”







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Thursday 23. August
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- Tallinnas MaarjamÀel avati kommunismiohvrite memoriaal
(ERR)
"Tallinnas MaarjamĂ€el peeti neljapĂ€eval kommunismiohvrite memoriaali avamistseremoonia. MĂ€lestuspaigas leiab Ă€ramĂ€rkimist kommunistliku reĆŸiimi tegevuse tĂ”ttu enam kui 22 000 elu kaotanud inimest, kellest suur osa suri kodumaast kaugel ja kelle matmiskoht on paljudel juhtudel teadmata."

- Victims of Communism Memorial opened in Tallinn



- Eesti kohal valla pÀÀstetud Hispaania rakett plahvatas Venemaa ĂŒhismeedias
Andrei KuzitĆĄkin
(Postimees)



- Aasta pÀrast pÀÀseb Eesti ID-kaardiga ligi kÔigi EL-i riikide e-teenustele
(ERR)



- Travel: Kreutzwald Hotel Tallinn
(Telegraph-Uk)

- An Unmissable Summer Holiday in the Baltics
(WSJ)




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Wednesday 22. August
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- Latvian and Estonian governments meet for centenary
(Latvian Broadcasting)

- Estonian, Latvian ministers discuss Tallinn-Tartu-Valga-Riga train
(Baltic Course)
"At present two pairs of trains a day operate between Valga, Estonia and the Latvian capital Riga and 1,000 passengers a month on the average cross the Estonian-Latvian border by train. 
 the ministers highlighted the need to extend the Kiev-Riga train link that will start operation in 2019 to Tartu and Tallinn."



- Kalevi-Liival rĂŒvetati natsismiohvrite mĂ€lestusmĂ€rke
(ERR)
"Ööl vastu pĂŒhapĂ€eva vĂ”i pĂŒhapĂ€eval vandaalitsesid tundmatud Kalevi-Liival natsismiohvrite mĂ€lestusmĂ€rkide kallal. Politsei palub rĂŒĂŒstajate leidmiseks JĂ”elĂ€htme inimestelt abi."

- Holocaust victim memorials vandalised at Kalevi-Liiva

- Holocaust memorials atop mass graves in Estonia vandalized
(Arutz Sheva)



- NATO says forces defensive, don't compare to Russian deployments
(Reuters)
"NATO rebutted on Wednesday President Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that the alliance’s forces in eastern Europe posed a threat to Russia, saying they were no match for Moscow deployments. “NATO’s actions are defensive, proportionate and fully in line with our international commitments,” the alliance’s spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in an email to Reuters."

- Putin and Nato trade barbs over troops
(BBC)





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The Soviet Invasion of
Czechoslovakia
August 1968
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✔ The 1968 Invasion: When Hope Was Crushed By Soviet Tanks
(Radio Praha)
"At 1:55 a.m. on August 21, 1968 Czechoslovak Radio began broadcasting an announcement from the Czechoslovak Communist Party leadership: The country had been invaded just before midnight by five Warsaw Pact countries. 
 Czechoslovak Radio in central Prague became a focal point of the invasion, with unarmed civilians gathering outside the station from the early hours to try to prevent enemy troops from taking control. 
"



✔ Josef Koudelka's famous photographs of the invasion
(Meduza)

- Film clips via YouTube:
(4:12 mins.)
(9:57 mins.)
(1:55 mins.)
(5:31 mins.)



✔ TĆĄehhid ja slovakid mĂ€lestavad 50 aasta möödumist Praha kevadest
(ERR)
"Inimesed TĆĄehhis ja Slovakkias meenutavad 21. augustil 50 aasta tĂ€itumist sellest, kui NĂ”ukogude Liidu tankid tegid lĂ”pu Praha kevadele — liberaliseerimisperioodile, millega TĆĄehhoslovakkia kommunistliku partei liider Alexander Dubcek pĂŒĂŒdis reformida totalitaarset reĆŸiimi inimnĂ€oliseks sotsialismiks."



✔ 'Prague Spring' a reminder of threats to Europe
(Politico-Europe)
"Fifty years after tanks rolled into Prague, and almost 30 years after the Berlin Wall came down, authoritarianism is back at the heart of the EU, a union founded on the promise of “never again.” The threat no longer comes from the Brezhnev doctrine - which called on the Soviet Union to intervene when countries appeared to rebel against socialist rule - but it is fed by the same hatred of freedom. Across the EU, democratically elected governments have set out to dismantle the rights enshrined in the bloc’s founding texts."



✔ The Two Finnish Friends Who Got Caught Up in the 1968 Invasion
(Radio Praha)
“At about 2 o’clock in the morning we came to a night club at Strahov. “We came, I remember, about three days before the invasion.“ The music stopped and at first I was a little bit angry. I was going, You should be open – why have you stopped [laughs]? Somebody came to explain to us, in English, that Russian troops had come. Of course we at first thought that it wasn’t true. But they took us outside this night club and we saw heavy airplanes landing; after every 50 seconds another plane came.”
--
“Then we understood it was true, that the invasion had begun.” 



✔ The Invasion of Czechoslovakia Through 4 Women's Eyes
(RFERL)
"I experienced the Soviet-led troops shooting recklessly into the Czechoslovak Radio's building, into windows.”



✔ Czech Leaders Silent As Country Marks 50th Anniversary Of Crushing Of 'Prague Spring’
(RFERL)

- Czechs boo prime minister at Soviet invasion memorial
(Deutsche Welle)

- ‘It was lethal’: How the Prague Spring was crushed by a Soviet-led invasion
(Washington Post with video)

- Czechs, Slovaks Mark 50 Years Since Soviet-Led Crackdown On 'Prague Spring’
(RFERL)
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- The 1968 Invasion of Czechoslovakia Through the Eyes of Soviet Troops
(Radio Praha)

- 50 Years Since a Soviet Invasion Ended the Prague Spring
(The Atlantic)

- Nearly half of Russians ignorant of 1968's Czechoslovakia invasion
(The Guardian)

- Prague 1968: lost images of the day that freedom died
(The Guardian)






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Tuesday 21. August
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- Tallinnas ilmus ajutiselt nÀhtavale kunagine Tselluloosi tÀnav
(ERR)
"Tallinnas Tartu maanteel lammutati Fahle Pargi Ă€rikvartali rajamise kĂ€igus avaus aastakĂŒmneid ĂŒhes tĂŒkis olnud mĂŒĂŒri sisse ja sealt avaneb ajutiselt vaade kunagisele Tselluloosi tĂ€navale."

Eesti Filmiarhiivi foto Tselluloosi tĂ€navast 1911. vĂ”i 1912. aastal. 
(Foto: Fausto Capital)



- MP Artur Talvik to establish new political party, hoping for 25 Riigikogu seats
(ERR)



- What can Estonia offer that other countries can’t?
(ERR)



- Trident Juncture and Nato’s Nordic Front
(War on the Rocks)
"This October, 40,000 U.S. and allied troops will converge on the sea and in the air over Norway for a NATO exercise named Trident Juncture. This will be NATO’s largest exercise since 2002 and will involve 30 allied and partner countries. One-hundred thirty aircraft and 70 ships will churn the waters of the Norwegian Sea and darken the skies above it, while thousands of allied land troops will operate in Norway in what is called a NATO “Article 5” exercise. Article 5 is that part of the North Atlantic Treaty in which members pledge to come to the aid of an ally under attack. For the purposes of the Trident Juncture exercise, that ally is Norway."
--
"Not only is the exercise large, but U.S. military engagement will be significant 
"



- Latvia’s money-laundering mud fight
(Politico-Europe)
“
 the Baltic country’s reputation has taken a further battering this year. Latvia’s third-largest lender, ABLV Bank, collapsed in February after U.S. authorities accused it of “a wide array of illicit conduct,” linked to North Korea’s weapons program and corruption in Russia and Ukraine. And in June, prosecutors charged the central bank governor with bribery. Latvia’s troubles — and other money-laundering scandals elsewhere in Europe — have prompted the EU to draw up plans to crack down on the flow of dirty money."




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Monday 20. August 
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✔ President Kersti Kaljulaidi kĂ”ne Eesti iseseisvuse taastamise aastapĂ€eval
(ERR)

"If we do not shape our own future, it will be done for us.”

- Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden official visit to Estonia
—

- Over 52,000 people join together in virtual choir celebrating independence

- Sunday's Estonia 100 singing event songs together with lyrics



- President Ilves: vabadus ei ole olek, vaid tahe ja tegevus
(ERR)
"1991. aasta 20. augusti hilisĂ”htul Eesti rahvas sai, Ă”igemini vĂ”ttis oma riigi tagasi," kirjutab eelmine riigipea Toomas Hendrik Ilves sotsiaalmeedia postituses, kinnitades, et Eesti iseseisvuse taastamine ei olnud vĂ€ikese grupi inimeste vĂ”i mĂ”ne ĂŒksiku poliitiku teene: "See oli rahva tahe ja töö, mida ergutasid, millest laulsid ja luuletasid meie vaimuinimesed."

- President Ilves: Freedom not a state of being, but rather will and action
(ERR)



- Tavaline Eesti toit on Ämaris teenivatele Prantsuse Ă”huvĂ€elastele eksootiline ökokraam
(Delfi)



- Euroopas plaanitakse olulist muudatust, mil vÔib olla vÀga oluline mÔju ka Eestile ja Rail Balticule
(Ärileht)
"Ryanair ja EasyJet muutsid lennundust tĂ€ielikult, kui hakkasid pakkuma odavlende. NĂŒĂŒd vĂ”ib sama saatus oodata rongiliiklust. Aastast 2020 soovib Euroopa Liit avada turud konkurentsile."

- Discount Airline Model Is Coming to Europe’s Railways
(Bloomberg)
"The European Union has ordered countries to open all commercial train services to competition by 2020—and experience says that’s likely to have a dramatic effect."



- 'Namejs 2018' military exercise underway
(Latvian Broadcasting)
"Namejs 2018, the largest military training exercise since the restoration of independence is getting under way in Latvia 
"





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Sunday 19. August 
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- West's Paramount Task is to Prevent Belarus from Being Swallowed Up by Russia
(Window on Eurasia)
"Imantas Melianas, a senior Lithuanian specialist on ethnic minorities and national security, says 
 that to his “great regret, it is difficult to be optimistic about the preservation of the independence of Belarus” after the Helsinki summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin."



- Opinion: Europe and the U.S. Drift (Dangerously) Far Apart
(Ozy)
“External forces affecting the EU’s character and pulling at its fabric come principally from Russia and, less directly, from the United States."



- Erdogan-Trump Tiff Endangers Turkish Economy and NATO
(Spiegel)
"The Turkish economy is collapsing and President Erdogan is engaged in a bitter battle with U.S. President Donald Trump. NATO could turn out to be the loser, while Moscow is the primary beneficiary.”

- Shots Fired at Gate of US Embassy in Turkey, No One Hurt
(VOA)



- De-mining eastern Ukraine may take decades
(Deutsche Welle)
"The war in eastern Ukraine is entering its fifth year. Since 2014 more than 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict — nearly 2,000 of them as a result of coming into contact with mines, munitions and other unexploded devices."



- Poland is Europe’s future - but which one?
(Politico-Europe)
"One Poland buzzes with youthful optimism: the economic success story of post-1989 Europe on daily show not just in the fast-rising high-rises of downtown Warsaw, but across the country. Its dynamism is the envy of Europe. Another is ill-tempered and divided, obsessed with quarrels with each other and its neighbors - Germany and Brussels above all. This Poland looks inward and backward. “History is the new religion,” says one right-leaning politician. 
"





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Russia
“Trust No One"
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- Putin: kohtumine Trumpiga oli positiivne ja kasulik
(ERR)
"Vene president Vladimir Putin nimetas kolmapÀeval Sotƥis juulikuist kohtumist USA riigipea Donald Trumpiga positiivseks ja kasulikuks."



- Moscow has Closed the Kerch Straits to Ukrainian Shipping, Kyiv Expert Says
(Window on Eurasia)
"Russia did not allow a single ship to pass through the Kerch Straits to Ukrainian ports between August 14 and August 21, effectively cutting of those ports from international trade. At present, he says, there are 16 ships stopped in the straits, three of which have been there for a week; and the ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk are almost empty." 



- Russia to Strengthen Its Western Flank
(Warsaw Institute)
"Russia’s Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu announced that since 2016, more than 70 large units and military formations, including two divisions and three brigades, had been created within the territory of the district. At the same time, military units of the Western Military District received about 5,000 – either new or modernised – pieces of armaments and equipment, thanks to which the share of modern utilities could increase from 39 to 54 percent. ... Due to the military expansion of the 20th Army, special military towns of a new type are currently being built in the Voronezh Oblast, Belohorod Oblast and Bryansk Oblast; they will host troops who serve in the aforementioned tactical unit.”
—
"The forces of the Western Military District are currently concentrated on areas located near the borders with the Baltic countries and Poland. Nevertheless, Finland’s rapprochement with NATO and the United States may eventually oblige the Russians to change their initial plans. If the potential front line in a possible war was extended by more than 1,300 kilometres (Russian-Finnish border), such state of matters would weaken Russia’s defence and offensive capacities; thus, it does not come as surprise that Moscow is highly concerned about security policy of both Helsinki and Stockholm." 



- Vene relvajÔud alustasid riigi idaosas suurÔppusi
(ERR)
"Venemaa relvajĂ”ud alustasid esmaspĂ€eval riigi idaosas suurĂ”ppusi, mille eesmĂ€rk on ette valmistada oktoobris koos Hiina ja Mongooliaga korraldatavaid ĂŒhisĂ”ppusi Vostok 2018, teatas kaitseminister Sergei Ć oigu."



- Russia plans largest war games since end of Soviet Union
(CNN)
"Thousands of troops from China and Mongolia are expected to join in the exercises in Siberia, dubbed Vostok 2018, according to statements from the Russian and Chinese defense ministries. The games will have an "unprecedented scale both in territory and number of troops involved," supreme commander-in-chief of the Russian armed forces, General Sergi Shoigu, said in a statement."

- Putin orders surprise combat-readiness inspections ahead of massive 'Vostok-2018' military drills with China
(Meduza)



- KGB Didn’t Defend USSR in 1991 Because People were Against System, Former Senior KGB Analyst Says
(Window on Eurasia)

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