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05 February, 2021

 


Estonia’s prime minister Kaja Kallas vows to tackle climate crisis

(The Guardian - 1. Feb)

“The new coalition government has vowed to develop plans to stop the production of oil shale power in the country by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/01/estonias-first-female-prime-minister-vows-to-tackle-climate-crisis



“Kaja Kallas says her govt will be very pro-European and will have clear change in policies on issues like climate change.” - The Week



“It is important European values are protected in Estonia.” - ERR



“Kaja Kallas, leader of the country’s Reform party, plans to govern with the planet in mind.” - Global Citizen



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Latest COVID cases in Baltics: 

- 596 in Estonia

- 876 in Latvia

- 654 in Lithuania

(BNN)

https://bnn-news.com/latest-covid-19-cases-in-baltics-876-in-latvia-654-in-lithuania-596-in-estonia-221587



“Koroonaviiruse andmestik.” - Eesti Terviseamet



“Estonia imposes upper age limit for AstraZeneca vaccine at 70.” - ERR



“Koroonaviiruse sisaldus reovees on rekordiliselt suur.” - Postimees



“Estonia Lifts Quarantine for Vaccinated Travelers.” - Travel and Leisure



“EU chief admits COVID vaccine blunders.” - Deutsche Welle



“COVID-19 vaccine: Which country in Europe has immunised the most people?” - Euronews








— Friday 5. February —


Intervjuu: Keskkonnaminister Tõnis Mölder

Saatejuhid on Toomas Kask ja Ülle Harju

(Postimees TV)

“Te saite hiljuti teada ehmatava uudise, et Pakri poolsaare lähedal, looduskaitseala külje all, pumbatakse suurtes kogustes ümber ohtlike naftasaadusi. … On kõlanud ettepanekud, et selline ohtlik kauba ümberlaadimine võiks toimuda ainult sadamas.”

https://tv.postimees.ee/7172604/tonis-molder-pakri-naftapumpamisest-kes-saastab-peab-ka-maksma



“Pärimine Vene sidemete kohta ajas teflonmehe endast välja.” - Postimees





Seaborne oil transfers between vessels occured offshore endangering the Pakri Conservation Area 

(ERR)

“The alleged ship-to-ship oil transfers had taken place in the Pakri special conservation area, close to the port city of Paldiski, on the northwest coast. … The Pakri special conservation area is a part of the Natura 2000 Europe-wide network of protected areas and contains significant bird and seal breeding areas. The ship-to-ship oil transfers have been going on in the Pakri zone since March 2019, the Greens say.”

“Two major cases of maritime pollution in the past decade concerned similar vessel-to-vessel transfers.”  [such dangerous transhipments should only take place in port.]

https://news.err.ee/1608097621/green-party-reports-seaborne-oil-transfer-between-vessels-to-police





Estonia's geology declared  suitable for deep borehole nuclear waste disposal

(World Nuclear News)

“There are no fundamental geologic limitations to disposing of radioactive waste in deep horizontal boreholes in Estonia, a study conducted by US nuclear waste disposal company Deep Isolation on behalf of Fermi Energia has concluded. Such a repository could be used for the disposal of used fuel from small modular reactors (SMRs) proposed for deployment by the Estonian company. …”

https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Estonias-geology-suitable-for-deep-borehole-reposi



“Deep Isolation will present the results of this study as part of Fermi Energia’s one-day SMR conference, New Generation Nuclear Energy in Estonia, on Feb. 9.” - Deep Isolation Press Release


Graphic:  Deep Isolation, Inc.


“Disposal of High-Level Nuclear Waste in Deep Horizontal Drillholes.” - Deep Isolation, Inc., Berkeley, California





Estonia Permits Schengen Visa Refusals to Be Challenged in Court

(Schengen Visa Info)

“The Estonian government has decided to permit persons whose Schengen Visas are denied by Estonian embassies and consulates abroad and who have passed a two-stage appeal procedure to appeal to an administrative court if they so wish. … Estonia has one of the lowest Schengen visa rejection rates in the Schengen Area, with only 1.4 per cent of Schengen visas rejected, out of a total of 145,711 visa applications lodged at its embassies and consulates in 2019.”

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/estonia-permits-schengen-visa-refusals-to-be-challenged-in-court/




Thirty exquisite maps to teach a great deal about Estonia

(Estonian World)

“Geographers from the University of Tartu participated in a global 30-day map challenge, creating thirty maps of Estonia – see what they came up to.”

https://estonianworld.com/knowledge/thirty-exquisite-maps-to-teach-a-great-deal-about-estonia/



Original Story at the University of Tartu Blog:

https://blog.ut.ee/30-maps-2020/




Street Protests Alone Not Enough to Bring Down Entrenched Dictatorships

By Paul Goble

“Daniil Konstantinov, … the Russian opposition lawyer and rights activist behind the For Fair Elections movement says that no one should think that street protests, no matter how large and frequent, are going to be enough to bring down the dictatorships in either Belarus or Russia.”

“It is “senseless” to think that Navalny’s efforts have changed this, he says. Instead, it has simply created a situation in which the powers that be will use the coercive resources at their disposal more widely not just against activist leaders but against anyone in the population who dares to support them and oppose the Kremlin.”

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/02/street-protests-alone-not-enough-to.html



“Navalny’s failure to get more popular support means that the Kremlin’s hands are untied.” - Window on Eurasia



“What some of Russia’s top experts expect in the aftermath of Alexey Navalny’s imprisonment.” - Meduza











— Thursday 4. February —



Eesti ametniku vaikimine laseb naftaärikatel miljoneid teenida

Ülle Harju, Postimees

“Naftaärimeestel miljoneid teenida laskev, Eesti riigile aga tühjad pihud ja hiiglasliku keskkonnariski jättev kõrge keskkonnaametnik peitus Postimehe küsimuste eest eile hilisõhtuni ministeeriumimajja.”

https://leht.postimees.ee/7171742/eesti-ametniku-vaikimine-laseb-naftaarikatel-miljoneid-teenida



“Eesti lubab looduskaitsealal üliohtlikku äri ajada.” - Postimees



“Tanker lahkus, Pakril enam naftat ümber pumbata ei lubata.” - Postimees




Valitsus rahastab 3 miljoni euroga Estonia täiendavate asjaolude uurimist

(Vabariigi Valitsus)

“Kaja Kallase sõnul kinnitas valitsuskabinet tänase otsusega seisukohta, et parvlaev Estonia hukkumise uute asjaolude täiendav uurimine peab olema läbi viidud viisil, mis on usaldusväärne, läbipaistev ning omaste esindusorganisatsioone kaasav.”

https://www.valitsus.ee/uudised/valitsus-rahastab-3-miljoni-euroga-estonia-taiendavate-asjaolude-uurimist



“Govt to allocate EUR 3 mln for investigating Estonia ferry wreck with robots.” - Baltic Times




Estonia’s Outgoing Government Leaves a Damaged Security Legacy 

By Eoin Micheál McNamara, Foreign Policy Research Institute

“The populist far-right EKRE is known for instigating divisive domestic policies, and its leaders have been curiously unrestrained when publicly insulting some of Estonia’s most important international partners. As EKRE embroiled the Center-EKRE-Isamaa coalition in repeated controversy, the Riigikogu’s opposition — comprised of the Reform Party and SDE — routinely appealed for its ejection from government. President Kaljulaid has never hidden her belief that a place in government has served to magnify EKRE’s controversial behavior. The president has even criticized the coalition as a threat to both Estonia’s “security and constitutional order,” a critique remarkable for its grave seriousness.”

https://www.fpri.org/article/2021/02/estonias-outgoing-government-leaves-damaged-security-legacy/




Russian parties in Estonia and Latvia have lost the support of ethnic Russians

(Window on Eurasia)

“According to a new poll in Estonia, only 43 percent of Estonia’s Russians now support the Center Party, down from 60 percent a year ago, 70 percent from the year before that, and 80 percent not much earlier. This shift is “good news for the political system of Estonia,” Aleksandr Nosovich says, “but bad news for the Center Party which earlier was considered as having a monopoly on the ethnic Russian electoral field,” a position it acquired because Tallinn succeeded in suppressing other, more explicitly “Russian” parties.”

http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2021/01/russian-parties-in-estonia-and-latvia.html




Estonia, Lithuania support Ukraine’s decision to block pro-Russian TV

(Kyiv Post)

“As of the morning of February 3, the broadcasting of NewsOne, ZIK and 112 Ukraine was blocked. However, their programs are also broadcast on YouTube channels.”

https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukrinform-lithuania-estonia-support-ukraines-decision-to-block-pro-russian-tv-channels.html




Excerpts from a speech given by Aleksei Navalny in a Moscow courtroom

(New York Times)

“The reason why it all happened is one man’s hatred and fear — one man hiding in a bunker. I mortally offended him by surviving an attempt at my life he ordered. … I mortally offended him by surviving, thanks to good people, thanks to pilots and doctors. … I participated in the investigation of my own poisoning, and we showed and proved, that it was Putin who, using Russia’s Federal Security Service, exercised this attempted murder. … And that’s driving this thieving little man in his bunker out of his mind. The fact that it all came to light.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/opinion/navalny-putin-speech.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage



“Baltic states urge CoE, OSCE to take action in response to violence in Russia.” - Baltic Times



“Navalny trial a 'low point' in EU-Russia relations.” - BBC



“Alexey Navalny Has a Secret Weapon: His Wife.” - Bloomberg



“The people who let Putin get away with persecuting Navalny.” - CNN




US may ease Nord Stream 2 sanctions

(BNE)

“… the Biden administration may have resigned itself to the fact that the Russian pipeline will be completed.”

https://www.intellinews.com/us-open-to-easing-nord-stream-2-sanctions-201998/?source=ukraine




The Post-Trump Reset With NATO Starts in Germany

(Foreign Policy)

“The Biden administration has paused Trump’s plan to withdraw thousands of U.S. troops from Germany, an early move to reassure allies.”

https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/02/04/biden-trump-nato-reset-troops-germany-austin-military-china-taiwan/



“NATO Must Adapt for a Dangerous New Era.” - Internationale Politik



“U.S. General: Europe troop withdrawal plans on hold.” - Politico







— Wednesday 3. February —



Estonia’s far-right leader Martin Helme is down but not out

(Politico-Europe)

“After losing office, EKRE leader says party can be back in power by 2023. Party leader Martin Helme is already plotting his comeback.”

“Helme said EKRE will look to inflict damage on the governing parties at the first opportunity: the local elections in October.  “We will have all kinds of nasty surprises in store for them,” he said. 

https://www.politico.eu/article/estonia-martin-helme-far-right-leader-ekre/



“EKRE the oldest party in Estonia on average, Eesti 200 youngest.” - ERR




1,000 arrested after protests over jailing of Russian opposition leader

(The Guardian)

“A Moscow court has sentenced Alexei Navalny to two years and eight months in a prison colony in a landmark decision for Vladimir Putin’s crackdown on the country’s leading opposition figure. … Navalny, who has accused the Russian president and his allies of stealing billions, was jailed for violating parole from a 2014 sentence for embezzlement in a case he has said was politically motivated.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/02/russian-opposition-leader-alexei-navalny-jailed?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other



“Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Sentenced to Over 2 Years in Penal Colony.” - Foreign Policy



“Photos: A Second Weekend of Protests in Russia.” - The Atlantic



“Russian Protest Witnesses Describe Brutal Police Crackdown.” - RFERL




Opinion: Putin Has Become America’s Ex-Boyfriend From Hell

By Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times

“Russia expert Leon Aron, author of “Boris Yeltsin: A Revolutionary Life,” told me that since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Putin has resorted to “militarized patriotism, anti-Americanism and the recovery of the lost glory of the Soviet superpowership” to restore loyalty and popularity at home.”

“Aron argued that we should prepare now for a possible Crimea-type attempt to “seize and annex areas just across Russia’s border with significant ethnic Russian populations, most likely in Estonia or Latvia, to reignite Russian patriotic fervor and expose NATO as a paper tiger.”

“In other words, he added, it might be a good time for Biden to rescind Trump’s order to withdraw about one-third of the U.S. troops in Germany and also to reinforce the Baltic NATO members Estonia and Latvia.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/02/opinion/vladimir-putin-russia-america.html?referringSource=articleShare




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