- “Estonia gains a seat at the UN Security Council for the first time.”
- “Moscow Publishes Photocopies of Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and Its Secret Protocols.”
- “The new Russian publication is available online at
Also, the documents are available in the archive:
- “15 NATO warships arrive in Baltic Sea for BALTOPS annual exercise.”
- “Estonians are protesting populism by wearing ‘pink slime’.”
__________
Friday 7. June
__________
Eesti valiti ÜRO Julgeolekunõukogu mittealaliseks liikmeks
(Postimees | ERR)
“Eesti valiti 132 häälega ÜRO Julgeolekunõukogu mittealaliseks liikmeks. Meiega Ida-Euroopa regioonis kandideerinud Rumeenia sai 58 häält.”
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| Scanpix |
Estonia gains a seat at the UN Security Council for the first time
(Estonian World | ERR)
“The non-permanent seats on the Security Council are distributed on a regional basis. Estonia belongs to the Eastern European group and its main regional competitor for the seat was Romania, a country of almost 20 million inhabitants. Estonia has not been a member of the Security Council before, while Romania has been a member on four occasions.”
—
Estonia: from Baltic pawn to global powerhouse
(WTOP)
“Estonia is the 132nd-largest country on the planet, but it’s the world’s most technologically advanced nation. It’s also America’s most critical ally in Eastern Europe and the U.S. state of Maryland’s “State Partner.”
15 NATO warships arrive in Baltic Sea
(ERR)
“NATO warships have entered the Baltic Sea, ahead of the major international NATO BALTOPS annual exercise.”
Did the Left Really Win in Denmark?
(Foreign Policy)
“The Social Democrats are poised to lead the next government, but after adopting the far-right’s anti-immigration agenda the party isn’t what it used to be.”
Beyond Censorship: Kremlin Using Another Means to Impose Ideological Control
by Paul Goble
“An example of this more insidious form of repression is occuring at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, where the political science department is being folded into the department of government and municipal administration and some scholar critics losing their positions as a result.”
EU defence policy is becoming increasingly supranational
(London School of Economics)
[Discussion of the European Defence Fund, or EDF.]
Finland pledges to become carbon neutral by 2035
(The Guardian - 4. June)
“Finland’s new left-leaning coalition government has pledged to make the country carbon neutral by 2035 as part of a policy programme that includes a major increase in public spending on welfare and infrastructure.”
__________
Thursday 6. June
__________
Estonian support for NATO membership still high
(ERR)
“The research, carried out by pollsters Turu-uuringute on behalf of the defence ministry in March this year, breaks down as 43 percent of respondents "definitely" in favor of NATO membership, and 32 percent "preferably" in support. … The figure rises to 90 percent support when taking the solely ethnic Estonian sector of the population into account.”
Siseminister: idapiir tuleb esialgu ehitada selge riskiga lõikudel
(Lõuna Leht)
“Siseminister Mart Helme sõnul on kõige kulukam lõik 52 km pikkune ala soos, kuhu on soovitatud paigutada pontoonid, et ala muutuks piirivalve sõidukitele läbitavaks. „See on üks kokkuhoiu ja ajatamise küsimusi – kas jätame esialgu soo piirkondades sisse augud. Aga see oleks oluline kokkuhoid ja teeksime (hoopis) ära lõigud, kus on selged riskid, näiteks lõunaots,” rääkis Helme eile riigieelarve kontrolli erikomisjoni istungil.”
Estonians are protesting populism by wearing “pink slime”
(The Economist)
“All over Tallinn, people are sporting the same strange accessory: a pink blob the consistency of used chewing gum. It dangles from lapels in libraries, at foreign-policy conferences and in bars in Telliskivi, Bohemian quarter of the Estonian capital. Estonians call it “pink slime”. … In Estonia, “pink slime” started as an insult aimed at liberalism. Mart Helme says he does not believe in liberal democracy and thinks globalists in Brussels want to erase the identities of Estonia and other countries, turning them all into a uniform post-national mush. The party’s epithet for the ideology it detests is ‘roosa ila’ …”
Estonia prepared to host Three Seas Initiative summit in 2020
(Baltic Times)
Opinion: Europe’s new energy dependency
(Politico-Europe)
“Legislation proposed by the European Commission and making its way through the EU institutional process sets out how the bloc can become the world’s first economy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. But we can’t go it alone …”
Majority of Europeans would rather remain in EU
(Vox Europe)
“… no one seems to be willing to follow the British in their journey towards leaving the bloc.”
Russia’s Rickety Airbridge
(Riddle)
“It appears that Russia’s military air transport fleet, whatever its size, is of limited effectiveness, whatever the size of the country’s fleet. In order to change the situation, Moscow is now betting on precisely those aeroplanes which are unlikely to improve its military transport capabilities. …”
Opinion: Democracies worldwide must defend media freedom
(The Guardian - Uk)
“This week’s police raids on media organisations have sparked outrage in Australia. But concern should be felt much further afield. With media freedom under growing pressure worldwide, they are a reminder that in liberal democracies as well as dictatorships the work of journalists, in the public’s service, can be imperilled.”
Lots more:
__________
Wednesday 5. June
__________
Juhtkiri: Kaitsevägi peab arenema, aga ei tohi pehmostuda
(Eesti Päevaleht)
“Tuntud käibetõe järgi pole asja, mis hästi töötab, mõistlik muutma või parandama hakata. Kui hinnata Eesti kaitseväe toimimist selle järgi, kui usaldusväärne see on rahva silmis, siis toimib see hästi – umbes 90% eestlasi ja üle 50% muust rahvusest elanikke Eestis usaldab kaitseväge. See ei ole pelgalt hinnang välisele imagole, sest paljudel meessoost küsitletavatel on kaitseväes teenimise kogemust.”
Parlt to discuss establishing Estonian as the uniform language of instruction in schools
(Baltic Times)
"The reform is strongly supported by the Human Development Report and integration studies, which confirmed that the society's preparedness has increased. The popularity of Estonian schools and nursery schools is also on the rise and the Russian ones tend to lag behind by approximately a year in terms of results. …”
Estonian AI will tell you when to see the doctor
(Sifted)
“We’re not telling people what to do. That might happen in China but not in Estonia, or in Europe as a whole.”
EU’s Embassy In Russia Was Hacked But The EU Kept It A Secret
(BuzzFeed)
“An ongoing “sophisticated cyber espionage event” was discovered in April, just weeks before the European Parliament elections — but the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s foreign and security policy agency, did not disclose the incident publicly. Russian entities are believed to be behind the hack …”
Twitterbots: Anatomy of a Propaganda Campaign
(Symantec blog)
“(Russia’s) Internet Research Agency archive reveals a vast, coordinated campaign that was incredibly successful at pushing out and amplifying its messages.”
Is Russia’s Future in the Hands of Its Youth?
(Institute Of Modern Russia)
“Vladimir Putin is approaching his 20th anniversary as de-facto leader of Russia, and many critics of his regime are increasingly looking to the new generation of Russians in the hope that they can bring about change. What is known about this new generation? Is there ground for optimism?”
Russia's youth flex their political power
(PRI)
“For more than 33 million Russians under age 20, the leadership of Putin is the only type of government they've ever known. … And it's had an effect: The vast majority of young people under 34 (88%), support the Russian president, even more so than their older counterparts, (82%) of whom are in favor of Putin …”
__________
Tuesday 4. June
__________
Estonia reaffirms 2% of GDP for defence
(Janes 360)
“Estonia has announced its continued commitment to allocating at least 2% of GDP to defence spending for the years 2020–23, allotting EUR2.6 billion (USD2.9 billion) over the next 4 years.”
What HBO’s “Chernobyl” Got Right, and What It Got Terribly Wrong
by Masha Gessen - The New Yorker
“The HBO series “Chernobyl,” the fifth and final episode of which aired Monday, tells a fictionalized version. It being television, and very well-received television at that, it is the series, rather than the books, that will probably finally fill the vacuum where the story of Chernobyl should be. This is not a good thing.”
—
“Herein lies one of the series’ biggest flaws: its failure to accurately portray Soviet relationships of power.”
“Russian TV to air its own patriotic retelling of Chernobyl story.”
(The Guardian)
Ukrainian President Says He's Open To Peace Talks With Russia, Commits To NATO Membership
(RFERL)
“Ukraine's president said he is ready to negotiate with Russia to end the war in eastern Ukraine, but he also reaffirmed his country’s course toward NATO membership -- a move strongly opposed by Moscow.”
Russian military analyst: Moscow Preparing for a Major Regional War with the West on Belarusian Territory
(Window on Eurasia)
“According to the Moscow analyst, the roots of the war danger lie in economics: The Russian economy is in trouble now and is likely to get worse with additional sanctions. There is a sense in the Russian capital that something must be done to get out from under this situation.”
__________
Monday 3. June
__________
SCA Acquires 10,000 Hectares of Forest Land in Estonia
(Yahoo News)
"We have the intention to grow as a forest owner in the Baltics. The Baltic states are a natural part of our raw material supply base and we have been present in the market for a long time as a buyer of timber. Having our own forest resource strengthens our operations in the region.”
Helsinki's radical solution to homelessness
(The Guardian)
“Finland is the only EU country where homelessness is falling. Its secret? Giving people homes as soon as they need them – unconditionally.”
The Unbuilt Soviet Metro System That Haunts Latvia’s Capital
(Deep Baltic)
“First envisioned in the early ‘70s, it had a lengthy gestation period with many setbacks and delays, but when it finally seemed ready to go in the late ‘80s, everything fell apart as it came up against suddenly emboldened movements for autonomy and environmental protection. After a ferocious campaign of opposition from local residents and pressure groups conducted under the slogan “Metro Nav Draugs” (“The Metro Is Not a Friend”), the idea was quietly dropped.”
Europe’s Fragmented Center
(The New Yorker)
“The unsettled mood after the European Parliamentary elections makes this a dangerous moment, but also a promising one.”
Europe Redefined
(Geopolitical Futures)
“The biggest takeaway from the European Parliament elections is that the political center continued its decadelong retreat. This election is a milestone in that regard, though it is difficult to articulate why, considering the European Union has no clear constitution that defines its institutions and its powers. Instead it is governed by treaties among nations. Treaties among nations are necessarily compromises, and compromises necessarily make for ambiguity. Some institutions are controlled by constituent governments, of course, through which democracy is mediated by domestic elections. But the European Parliament is the only institution in which the votes of EU citizens create the membership. The multiplicity of authoritative bodies and their overlapping powers only adds to the ambiguity. …”
Putin—Like Trump—Thinks He’s Above the Law
(The Daily Beast)
“Just like President Trump, Putin withdraws from international agreements, ignores treaties and conventions—the two of them seem to play in a team here. They both believe that might makes right.”
—
“The Kremlin has been ignoring decisions made by international courts, for example, refusing pay compensation, including $1.8 billion, that the European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia to fork over to shareholders of Yukos oil company for imposing expensive penalties and not giving it a chance for a fair legal defense.”
—
“Thanks to Putin’s shortsighted policy, disrespect for international law, our country’s reputation has been destroyed,” Ilya Yashin, an opposition politician, told The Daily Beast.”
Moscow Expanding Its Influence in Eastern Belarus while Minsk has No Regional Strategy
(Window on Eurasia)
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