“Olukord on nii, nagu on. See on Kuressaare reaalsus.”
- Kuressare haigla juhatuse liige Edward Laane
Defense Forces’ field hospital set up at Saaremaa’s Kuressaare Hospital
(Postimees)
“The field hospital has 20 intensive care beds with respiratory treatment equipment and up to 40 additional beds. It is also possible to fill up oxygen tanks at the field hospital. Availability of oxygen treatment is one of the greatest weaknesses of the Kuressaare Hospital …”
- Saarte Hääl Otseblogi: “Koroonaviirus Saaremaal”
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Friday
3. April
__________
99 protsenti Eesti elanikest on koroonaviiruse teemadega hästi kursis
(Pealinn)
“Uuringu põhjal võib öelda, et peaaegu kõik elanikud on koroonaviirusega seotud teemadega kursis: 99 protsenti Eesti elanikest ütleb, et on hästi või pigem hästi kursis, venekeelsete seas 97 protsenti. … 67 protsenti eestimaalastest püsib enda sõnul kodus ning lisaks seitse protsenti karantiinis, väljas liikuvate inimeste osakaal on vähenenud ja on võrreldes eelmise nädalaga vähenenud 31-protsendilt 25-le.”
Creeping Authoritarianism Has Finally Prevailed
by Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic
“On March 30, the Hungarian Parliament, which is controlled by Orbán’s party, Fidesz, voted to cancel all elections, suspend its own ability to legislate, and give the prime minister the right to rule by decree—indefinitely. None of these powers is needed to fight the coronavirus. None of them fixes the existing problems in Hungarian hospitals. All of them will help the Hungarian government push through other measures. …”
Crimea: To Russia With Love
(Foreign Affairs)
“The Majority of Crimeans Are Still Glad for Their Annexation. … Do Crimeans feel that they live in an occupied territory, under the heels of Russian invaders? Some certainly do.”
Helsinki sets up temporary morgues for coronavirus fatalities
(Yle)
“Health authorities have begun construction of temporary morgues at two hospitals in Helsinki. The facilities will be set up at hospitals in Laakso and Malmi, and will accommodate 90 and 45 bodies respectively.”
Norway: Enhancing deterrence and defence on NATO's northern flank
(RAND e-Book)
“Allied perspectives on strategic options for Norway.”
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Thursday
2. April
__________
Military Exercise ‘Defender Europe 20’ is Cancelled: What Does It Mean for the Baltic States?
(Foreign Policy Research Institute)
“The Defender Europe-20 exercise had just begun garnering increased attention in Western media when it was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. … Since the 1993 demise of Reforger, NATO generally and the US Army Europe more specifically have gradually lost not just that institutional knowledge, but in some cases even the logistical capability actually to make similar deployments. Defender Europe-20, as the largest deployment exercise of US forces to Europe since Reforger, would have represented a major attempt to regain the institutional knowledge of how to conduct such deployments in Europe, as well as to test the local infrastructure.”
—
“The good news for the Baltic countries, and indeed for NATO’s credibility as an alliance, is that the US Army, at the very least, is taking its commitment to Baltic defense seriously and is actively thinking through the problems it would face operating in the Baltic theater. Once the current pandemic has been overcome, both the Baltic states and US Army Europe should work on restaging Exercise Defender Europe-20 and all exercises linked to it.”
Under Cover of the Pandemic, Putin Quite Likely Planning for a New War
by Paul Goble, Windows on Eurasia
“To the extent Putin is planning another invasion, he will act either now while everyone is occupied with the coronavirus or put off the war until 2021 or later in the hopes Trump will be re-elected. Time is working against him in the sense that he will not live forever. So he will be more inclined to act sooner, particularly if there are obvious risks on the horizon. … the pandemic has not changed his goals.”
Kaljulaid: Eriolukorda tohiks pikendada ühe kuu kaupa
(ERR)
Vene saatkond laseb pronkssõduri läikima lüüa
(Postimees)
“Kaitseväe kalmistul asuv monument on ümbritsetud piirdeaiaga ning seal käivad korrastus- ja värskendustööd.”
Why the Estonia-Latvia border was drawn with a British diplomat's pen
(Latvian Broadcasting)
“The work of the Latvian–Estonian border commission was drawing to a close, and its head Stephen Tallents was to publish an offer for the new border between the two countries soon. The stakes were high, deciding the fate of Valka/Valga and the towns of Ainaži and Ape situated near what is now the border between Latvia and Estonia. … As early as summer 1919, Latvia and Estonia agreed to set up a border committee.”
Estonia sees GDP falling by as much as 8% in 2020
by Tarmo Virki, Reuters
“The new forecast comes only two days after the ministry forecast the economy would contract by 3% this year, but noted the forecast was based on developments up until March 18.”
The US delivers 128 Javelin missiles to Estonia
by Silver Tambur, Estonian World
“Javelin is a fire-and-forget missile with lock-on before launch and automatic self-guidance. The system takes a top-attack flight profile against armoured vehicles (attacking the top armour, which is generally thinner), but can also take a direct-attack mode for use against buildings. This missile also has the ability to engage helicopters in the direct attack mode.”
Regional Jet CEO: Current crisis in aviation is unprecedented
(Postimees)
“I personally believe that it is vital to maintain a successful airline for the future. Especially from the point of view of the Estonian state. I believe Latvia and other countries in the periphery feel the same.”
Finnair CEO: ‘Coronavirus is the biggest crisis in airline history’
(News Now Finland)
“The usual ebb and flow of flights – the morning rush to European capitals, the evening hustle of Asia-bound planes – replaced with just a skeleton service to key cities after the airline cut 90% of its schedule …”
Lufthansa’s CEO: How Coronavirus Radically Upended Aviation
(Spiegel)
“We worked hard over the past few years to ensure that none of our planes is on the ground one minute longer than necessary. Now, we have had to park 700 of the 763 aircraft in the Lufthansa group.”
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Wednesday
1. April
__________
Meet Suve: Estonia’s state-approved chatbot offering Covid-19 advice
(Emerging Europe)
“Driven by artificial intelligence, Suve helps Estonians and foreign residents of the country find official information about the coronavirus situation, keeping emergency phone lines free for those in the most need.
Available in both Estonian and English, Suve guarantees trustworthy and accurate information, also helping to combat the spread of fake news.”
https://emerging-europe.com/news/meet-suve-estonias-state-approved-chatbot-offering-covid-19-advice/
The Coronavirus Closes Borders
(Geopolitical Futures)
“As Europe recovered from World War II, the notion of economic integration became more powerful and, with it, so too did the idea that borders were not to be barriers. … Just about every country has coronavirus patients; some have so many that they are overwhelmed. By the time controls were put in place, closing the borders to outsiders had little effect. As for protecting resources, closing borders is not useless, but it is a policy that will have consequences. …”
Crimea’s water problem: Headache For Moscow, Dilemma For Kyiv
(RFERL)
“After Russia cut Crimea off from the rest of Ukraine by seizing control of the Black Sea peninsula in 2014, Kyiv cut off the water supply to Crimea …”
—
“As is often the case, the struggle over fresh water for Crimea has a strong political current.”
Russia and China push ‘fake news’ aimed at weakening Europe
(Politico-Europe)
“There had been more than 150 cases of pro-Kremlin disinformation linked to the global health crisis since late January. That includes claims that the European Union was on the verge of collapse because of national governments' fumbled responses to COVID-19.”
Why Does Russia Use Disinformation?
(Lawfare)
“Russia has a number of strategic goals that it hopes to advance through its use of disinformation, including restoring Russia to great power status, preserving its sphere of influence, protecting the Putin regime and enhancing its military effectiveness. Those aims are intimately tied up in Russia’s history, geography, culture, domestic situation and perceived place in the world.”
__________
Tuesday
31. March
__________
RMK soovib minna kaitsealuse metsa kallale
Ülle Harju, Postimees
“Riigimetsa Majandamise Keskus (RMK) kavatseb hakata keskkonnaministeeriumi survestama, et riik osa kaitsealuste liikide elupaiku kaitse alt välja arvaks ja RMK saaks rohkem metsa maha võtta.”
—
”Põhjus on lihtne: majandusmets hakkab otsa saama ja RMK-l on raskusi soovitud raiemahu täitmisega.”
Until Something Moves: Reinforcing the Baltic Region in Crisis and War
(ICDS)
“NATO’s ability to efficiently move large and heavy armed forces into and across Europe is a key aspect of its deterrence and defence posture.
In establishing the enhanced Forward Presence in Poland and the three Baltic states, NATO leaders acknowledged that credible deterrence would also require these small multinational forces to be underpinned by a robust reinforcement strategy. In this report, we examine this key aspect of NATO’s defence and deterrence posture as it relates to the Baltic region.”
266 Estonians seeking help to return
(ERR)
“More than 2,000 people have been helped by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to return to Estonia and a further 266 are seeking assistance.”
—
“The majority of Estonians needing help to return are in Australia (43 people), the Bahamas (30 people), Indonesia (17 people), Spain (15 people), New Zealand (11 people) and Georgia (15 people).”
Finland: Uusimaa in lockdown
(Helsinki Times)
“Uusimaa, which has become the epicentre of the new coronavirus pandemic in Finland, was locked down to slow down the spread of the virus.”
Belarus's strongman rejects coronavirus risks
(Washington Post)
“In Belarus, authoritarian leader President Alexander Lukashenko has famously scoffed at the coronavirus as a “frenzy and psychosis.” His views also come with advice for citizens who don’t share his coronavirus scorn: Hit the sauna, down some vodka and get back to work.”
Belarus carries on as rest of Europe locks down
(Euronews)
“Belarus announced 152 cases of coronavirus this week and one death, but the nation has not followed its neighbours in restricting gatherings - as well as ice hockey, the country’ football league is still operational with dozens of games scheduled for the coming weekend.”
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Putinology
__________
Unstable Putin
by Andrey Pertsev, Carnegie Moscow
“Throughout the many years he has been in power, the guarantee of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s popularity has been his role as the custodian of stability. … In 2020, however, Putin has become an outright enemy of stability. He is rewriting the rules and approving risky moves, and all for the benefit of himself and his entourage. This new, mercurial Putin is prepared to demolish the foundations for the sake of his own interests, and is losing his grip on reality.”
How Putin and his KGB cronies took control of Russia
by Catherine Belton, The Times-Uk
“It’s 20 years since Vladimir Putin came to power. A former member of his inner circle reveals to author Catherine Belton how he and his closest allies came to dominate, enriched themselves and then challenged the West.”
Russia’s armed forces under Gerasimov, man without a doctrine
by Michael Kofman, Riddle)
“Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the Russian General Staff, turns 65 this year and is likely to stay on as long as Sergei Shoigu remains minister of defense. Gerasimov looms large over the current era of Russian military reform and modernization, though both processes were initiated by his predecessor, Nikolai Makarov. During his tenure, the Russian military has also been bloodied in two conflicts, Ukraine and Syria, with the lessons learned subsequently integrated into exercises at home. …”
Russia’s COVID-19 Crackdowns Could Get Real Ugly
by Anna Nemtsova, The Daily Beast
“As the plague spreads, many rulers in the ex-Soviet Empire opt for repression. … “Throw them in a big hole, bury them, let them die in it.”
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