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12 October, 2018



✔︎ Report: "Putin ja Trump võivad kohtuda novembris Pariisis.”
- ERR

✔︎ Trident Juncture 18: "NATO and Norway are preparing for one of the largest military exercises ever held in the country. During some hectic weeks this October and November, around 50,000 participants from all over NATO and its partners will be coming to Norway.”
- Norwegian Armed Forces press release


✔︎ "Eestit külastanud Vene keskpankuri mõrv on seotud Danske skandaaliga."

- ERR


- Katariina church stamp:

- Katariina church history:
- 2014-2018 Archive:



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Friday 12. October
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- Eesti ostab pikamaa tankitõrjerelvad
(Postimees | ERR)
"Kaitseinvesteeringute keskus kuulutas sel nädalal välja pikamaa tankitõrje relvasüsteemide hanke, mille raames on kavas osta vähemalt 18 relvasüsteemi koos laskemoonaga.”
—



- Soome, Eesti ja Läti loovad ühise gaasituru
(ERR)
"Soome, Eesti ja Läti gaasi ülekandevõrkude haldajad Gasum, Balticconnector OY, Elering ja Conexus Baltic Grid sõlmisid ühiste kavatsuste protokolli ühtse gaasituru korralduse rakendamiseks kolmes riigis alates 2020. aasta algusest. Samal ajal valmib ka Eesti ja Soome vaheline gaasiühendus Balticconnector."



- Eesti suursaadik Venemaal andis Putinile üle volikirja
(ERR)

- Putin ja Trump võivad kohtuda novembris Pariisis
(ERR)
"Venemaa president Vladimir Putin ja tema USA kolleeg Donald Trump võivad 11. novembril Pariisis, kus nad peaksid mõlemad võtma osa Esimese maailmasõja lõppu tähistavast üritusest …”



- Germany’s Pipeline Politics
(Riddle)
"When German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Vladimir Putin in late August, a key item on their agenda was the proposed construction of a new gas pipeline from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the project, known as Nord Stream 2. This was despite many articles in the international media urging Merkel to pull back. She has been criticised by members of the European Commission, Eastern EU member states, the US and even some conservative German politicians."
--
"Nord Stream 2 may well be one of her least popular decisions. (Only her migration policy is noticeably more controversial.) Yet the project is going ahead. …" 



- Estonia joins other EU states pressing for cyber-attack sanctions listing
(ERR | Delfi-Lithuania)
"Together with Lithuania, the UK, the Netherlands, Romania, and Finland, Estonia is pressing the bloc to make a decision at next week's Brussels EU summit. The sanctions regime already covers states violating nuclear and chemical weapons treaties."
—


- The UK is practicing cyberattacks that could black out Moscow

(Quartz)
"Military planners are looking for options if Russian president Vladimir Putin tests NATO’s resolve by seizing small islands belonging to Estonia, taking control of Libya’s oil reserves, or using ”irregular forces” to attack troops."

- Germany calls on Russia to halt campaign of cyberattacks
(AP)



- Spy left out in the cold: my homeland (Russia) forgot about me
(Postimees)
"Alexei Vasilev … was approached by Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) operatives and arrested on suspicion of espionage. Vasilev spent four months in detention until he was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison in March of this year. … “It seems to me that as long as I was useful [to the FSB], they could have found me anywhere. Now I’m in prison, and they don’t need me anymore. No one needs me.”
--

"Russian’s track record in terms of taking care of its spies who get caught abroad is less than stellar. It is especially evident in the case of so-called discount spies,” said British security policy and espionage expert, journalist Edward Lucas. Lucas said the reason Vasilev has been forgotten could be that he was caught on his very first assignment after he had failed somehow. “If he did not have a separate agreement with his recruiters for his family to be taken care of, I would not be surprised if the FSB no longer took him seriously …"



- NATO robust, spending to increase
(ERR)
"Foreign Minister Sven Mikser (SDE) was in Brussels on Thursday and met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The pair discussed the next steps in strengthening NATO's deterrence and defence posture, plus cooperation between it and the EU."



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Thursday 11. October
_____________


- Eestit külastanud Vene keskpankuri mõrv on seotud Danske skandaaliga
(ERR)
"Rahapesu jälgi ajav Venemaa keskpankur (Andrei) Kozlov reisis 2006. aasta suvel Eestisse, et muuhulgas hoiatada siinseid võimuorgandeid erandlikult ulatuslikust rahapesuskeemist väikese Balti riigi finantssektoris. Skeem, millele ta oli jälile saanud, osutus aastaid hiljem Eesti senise ajaloo suurimaks musta raha juhtumiks ehk Danske Banki 200 miljardi dollari rahapesuskandaaliks."



- Russian Whistleblower Assassinated After Uncovering $200 Billion Dirty-Money Scandal
(The Daily Beast)
"A crusading Russian official traveled to Estonia in the summer of 2006 to warn the authorities that an unprecedented money-laundering scheme had been established in the tiny Baltic financial sector. The scam he had uncovered would go on to become the biggest dirty-money operation in history: the $200 billion Danske Bank scandal."
--
"Three months after Andrei Kozlov, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Central Bank, tried to raise the alarm, he was dead.”
—
"Kozlov becomes the third dead Russian who can be linked to the Danske scandal after Alexander Perepilichnyy, whose company used the bank’s Estonia branch, died in suspicious circumstances in Britain, and  Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who was investigating the theft of $230 million when he died in Russian custody. It is claimed that the vast majority of the proceeds of that theft were laundered through Danske Bank."

- Estonia money laundering risk second lowest in world
(ERR)
"Estonia lies second (out of 129) after Finland with a risk score of 2.73 (the lower the score, the better), moving up one place since the last list was compiled. Lithuania is third, with New Zealand, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Sweden, Croatia and Israel making up the top ten."



- Interview: Former Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
by Zhanna Nemtsova
(Deutsche Welle)

Q: "What would you say about the possible reaction from Russia if you had a permanent US military base here in Poland?”

--
A: "Russia withdrew from the Conventional [Armed] Forces in Europe Treaty, which limited the presence of conventional troops with the argument that Russia should be able to move its troops around its territory as they please. Well, if you can move as you please, so can NATO."

- Side note: Interviewer Zhanna Nemtsova
(BBC)
[Ms. Nemtsova is the daughter of murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who had been killed within sight of the Kremlin in February of 2015. She was interviewed by BBC in March of 2015.]



- Jaapani plaadipoes on olemas pea kõik Mari Kalkuni albumid
(ERR)

- Mari Kalkun - "Rooftop Session”, Tokyo - 28. Sept.




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Wednesday 10. October
_____________


- Suri Estonia huku uurimist juhtinud kapten Uno Laur
(ERR)
"Esmaspäeva hommikul suri haiguse tagajärjel kapten Uno Laur, kes oli tuntud merekeele eest hoolitseja ning Estonia laevahuku uurimiskomisjoni juht. Sel kevadel auväärset  90. sünnipäeva tähistanud kapten Laur pühendas meresõidu kõrval neli aastakümmet Eesti merenduse arengule ja merekeelele. Tema eestvedamisel ilmusid "Mereleksikon" ja "Inglise-eesti meresõnaraamat”.”
In English:



- OpEd: Putin Shouldn’t Feel Too Good About Russians in the Baltics
by Leonid Bershidsky
(Bloomberg | Moscow Times)
"Despite news reports of a “pro-Russian” party’s victory in last Saturday’s parliamentary election in Latvia, the election provides evidence that if Russian President Vladimir Putin makes any inroads in the Baltic states, it won’t be through their democratic institutions.”
—
"Harmony (the center-left Latvian party) managed to pick up few Latvian votes but lost quite a few Russian ones. Some of these went to the Latvian Russian Union, a fringe party more favored by the Kremlin than Harmony because it advances one of Putin’s favorite ideas — that of a “Russian world” to which ethnic Russians belong wherever they live. But the Latvian Russian Union only won 3.2 percent of the vote, failing to get into parliament."
--



- President Kaljulaid became an honorary doctor of EWHA Womans University in South Korea
(Office of the President)
"EWHA Womans University is one of the most reputable universities in South Korea and was established in 1886. The word "womans" in the name of the university conveys a special meaning – the founders of the university wanted to use this form of the word in the name of the university (EWHA Womans University) to convey the role and importance of each and every woman."



- Did a ‘Pro-Russian’ Party Win Big in Latvia?
(Polygraph)
"Dr. Una Bergmane, a teaching fellow at the London School of Economics, criticized international media reaction to the Latvian election results …"
--
“Technically, Harmony (a party that is the main political force of Latvian Russians) got the highest number of votes 19.80% and is followed by a Trump-style populist party KPVLV (14.25%),” Bergmane wrote. “This victory is however purely technical, as Latvia has proportional representation. Harmony will obtain not more than 23 seats out of 100 and KPVLV will get 16. To form a governing coalition one needs 51 votes in the parliament (the Saeima).”



- Trident Juncture 18
(Norwegian Armed Forces | NATO)
 “The exercise (Oct. 25 through Nov. 7) will take place in central and eastern Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden. …  largest NATO exercise since 2002."
—
- US Admiral James Foggo urges Russia to observe NATO exercise
(Military Times)

- US aircraft carrier Truman will sail in huge NATO exercise
(Defense News)

- USS Iwo Jima, USS Gunston Hall, USS New York, Depart for Trident Juncture 
(US Navy press release)

- British NATO troops to show post-Brexit ‘commitment'
(Baltic Times)

- German troops to spearhead 'Trident Juncture’ exercises
(DW)

- Flexible logistics in a fluid, modern security environment
(NATO)



- When Killing the Messenger Becomes the Norm
(Foreign Policy)
"More journalists are assassinated than die in war zones.”





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Tuesday 9. October
_____________


- Interview: Kaljulaid talks about internet security, Russia and Donald Trump
(LA Times)
"Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid was in Los Angeles last week, where she discussed her country’s digital initiative and other matters in a speech to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council at the downtown California Club. She later sat down with The Times for a Q&A."




- Europe’s McCainland: Baltics fear European “strategic autonomy”
(The Economist)
"It was America’s support after the cold war that sealed Baltic affections. The countries emerged from behind the iron curtain after decades of trauma. One survey in 1993 found that more than 40% of citizens had relatives who had been killed, imprisoned or deported by the Nazis, Soviets or both. It was Bill Clinton, urged on by McCain, who put them on the path to NATO membership, and Madeleine Albright who encouraged Latvia to naturalize its ethnic Russians to avoid future conflict. Then it was George W. Bush who presided over the Balts’ arrival in NATO (visiting several times) and Barack Obama who, weeks after Russia’s incursion into eastern Ukraine, visited Estonia to reassure Balts who feared they would be the next target of Russia’s hybrid warfare.”
https://www.economist.com/europe/2018/10/06/the-baltics-fear-european-strategic-autonomy





- Kaliningrad: Russia Adds More Firepower
(Warsaw Institute)
"Russia’s Defense Ministry has also informed that the Fleet’s naval aviation forces had received Ka-27M helicopters that had previously been adapted to winter operation regime. The helicopters are equipped with on-board radio instrumentation, radio acoustic instruments, as well as a brand-new search system, enabling to target and attack submarines."



- Belarus Asserting Its Own Voice at Home and Abroad
(Jamestown Org.)
"News that the United States is weighing the possibility of establishing a permanent military base in Poland as well as Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly have both elicited spirited debates inside Belarus, providing useful insight into how the country wishes to assert itself in the world.”


"Russia’s imminent reaction to the base would be the deployment of sizable military contingents in Belarus, and Lukashenka would not be able to resist that. “Nobody knows how long this American military base will linger in Poland, if deployed, but Russia may remain forever just 180 kilometers from Warsaw.”






_____________

Monday 8. October
_____________


- Startis uus raadiosaade libauudistest
(Propastop)
"25. septembril oli Raadio 4 eetris esimene saade sarjast “Teorija vbrosa”. Venekeelne saadete seeria lubab keskenduda tervenisti libauudistele ja meediamanipulatsioonidele ning jõuda kuulajateni sagedusega korra kuus."




- Estonian campaign for Security Council seat has met with 170 countries so far

(ERR)
"Estonia is competing for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for 2020-2021, with Romania as its main competitor. The vote on the seat is in June 2019, with all 193 UN members participating."



- Latvian election results show shape of new Saeima
(Latvian Broadcasting)
—

“Draugiem.lv social network hacked with pro-Russia message.”

"Latvian election results pose problem for President Vējonis.”

- President of the European Council Donald Tusk makes scathing attack on Russian influence
(Politico-Europe)
"Tusk used his speech at a conference on the future of the European Union to express concern about Russia’s attempts to influence the direction of politics in Europe, and said Saturday’s election in Latvia could provide a clear signal that strategy is working."





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Russia
“Trust No One"
_____________


- Poll: Trust in Vladimir Putin declines steeply among Russians
(The Guardian)
"In a poll by the independent Levada Centre, 39% of Russians listed Putin as a politican they trust. That is a 20% decrease from November 2017 …"

"The survey was conducted 20 - 26 September 2018 on a representative nationwide sample of urban and rural population capacity of 1600 people aged 18 years and older in 136 settlements of 52 regions of Russia.” (Google translate.)



- Lukashenka Tells Putin’s New Man in Minsk: ‘Belarus Will Not Ever Be Part of Russia’
(Window on Eurasia)
"In his extended first meeting with Mikhael Babich, Putin’s new ambassador to Minsk, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka made it very clear that his country “was, is and will remain sovereign and does not plan to become part of the Russian Federation under any circumstances.”
--
            “Their meeting took place yesterday, and Lukashenka’s remarks were broadcast on Belarusian television, underscoring how important he viewed them as dispelling widespread rumors that Putin had sent Babich to Belarus to prepare for an Anschluss of that country …”



- Ukrainian Orthodox Church granted divorce from Moscow
(Politico-Europe)
“Russia may still have its grip on Crimea and Donbas, but on Thursday the Orthodox Church ended Moscow’s 332-year control over the Ukrainian Orthodox Church."
--
"Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome and worldwide leader of the Orthodox Church, announced Thursday that the church had granted “autocephaly,” or independence, to the Ukrainian Church. It revoked a synodal letter in 1686 that had granted the patriarch of Moscow control, including the power to ordain the metropolitan of Kiev."

- Ukrainian church wins independence battle against Moscow Patriarchate
(Deutsche Welle)
"Praising the Thursday ruling, President Petro Poroshenko said it "dispelled the imperial illusions and chauvinistic fantasies of Moscow. This is a victory of good over evil, light over darkness.”
--
"The victory for Kyiv could boost Poroshenko's reelection bid ahead of March 2019 elections."



- Kreml: Venemaa kaitseb vägivalla korral õigeusklikke Ukrainas
(ERR)
"Venemaa kavatseb "kaitsta" õigeusklikke Ukrainas võimaliku vägivalla eest pärast seda, kui Konstantinoopoli oikumeeniline patriarhaat nõustus tunnustama Ukraina õigeusu kiriku sõltumatust, teatas Kreml reedel."

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