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10 November, 2017


✔︎ Norilsk: A Toxic, Closed-Off City on the Edge of the World
(The Atlantic - 8. Nov. 2017)
[400 km north of the polar circle, 3075 km from Tallinn.]

✔︎ Declassified CIA Report
[Estonian prisoners at Norilsk]
(CIA Reading Room - May 1954)


✔︎ Norilsk Golgotha: Memorial to those who suffered in Norillag
(Russia Beyond - Jan. 2015)
"In the summer of 1990, delegations from the Baltic states first visited the site. Through their efforts, separate memorials were created in 1990 in memory of prisoners from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This group of three shrines, marked by Catholic and Protestant crosses, was dedicated in August 1991.”


✔︎ Remembering the Nations the Soviets Deported in Whole or in Part
by Paul Goble
(Up North - Oct. 2015)
“… more than 700 memorials to the victims of Stalinist repression nonetheless have been erected across the country."
--
(nazaccent.ru/content/18158-obedinyayushaya-skorb.html)


✔︎ Norilsk Journal
(New York Times - 2004)
"The hillside's most prominent memorials were built not by Russians, but by countries now free of the Soviet bloc whose citizens died in the Soviet gulag: Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland. Few people visit the site, on the edge of the city, behind a worn out factory. Power lines cross over it. A pond of industrial runoff is nearby. ..."

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- On-line version:

- Archive:


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Friday 10. 
November
_____________


- Vene tuumaõnnetuse järel jõudis kiirgus ka Eesti kohale
(Postimees | The Guardian)
--



- Raport Hollandi kaitseministrile: Balti riikidesse rohkem NATO sõdureid
(ERR)
"Raport leiab, et NATO sõjaväelasi peaks Balti riikides olema praeguse 
3,200 asemel 15, 000."



- Eesti kaanepoisid ja tüdrukud Venemaa TVs
(Propastop)
"Ülevaate Eestiga seotud inimestest, kes Venemaa telekanalites Eesti teemadel sõna võtavad."
Yana Toom
Dmitri Linter
Rein Müllerson
Vadim Strutšenko
Aleksandr Gaponenko

- Estonia’s Kremlin-Friendly Voices in Russian State Media
(Up North)



- Kaljulaid: lahendasime ID-kaardi kriisi hindele 4+
(ERR)
"Riigipea avaldas veendumust, et Eesti e-riigi maine on ID-kaardi turvalisusprobleemidest ja nüüdsest lahendusest pigem paranenud. Ta rõhutas, et Eesti on sisuliselt ainus riik maailmas, kus on digitaalne e-teenustest sõltuv ühiskond. "Piltlikult öeldes oleme meie lihtsalt eesliinil. Meiega saavad sellised asjad juhtuda, teistega ei saa."

- Kaljulaid: Estonia did B+ job solving ID card crisis
(ERR)

- Estonia’s digital ID shutdown brings security to the spotlight
(GovInsider | SC)
—



- Vene konsul kohtub Narvas vahistatud FSB agendiga
(ERR)
"Venemaa saatkonna konsul läheb esmaspäeval vaatama Narvas kinni peetud Vene kodanikku, keda Eesti uurimisasutused süüdistavad spioneerimises."

- Estonia arrests suspected FSB agent accused of “computer-related crime”
(Ars Technika)



- Defence officials set up hotline between Finland and Russia
(Yle)
"Army top brass on both sides say the round-the-clock connection will support communication during unexpected situations. … Finland took the initiative to set up the hotline with Moscow.”



- Off Topic: Facebook potentially used to psychologically exploit users 
(Salon)
“… Facebook and its successors were deliberately designed to consume as much time and attention as possible from their users. The result was that they created "a social-validation feedback loop - exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you're exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” 
- Sean Parker, one of the co-founders of Facebook




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Thursday 9. 
November
_____________



- Riho Terras: minust võib saada koduperemees Hollandis
(ERR)
"Terras sai kaitseväe juhatajaks 5. detsembril 2011. Kaitseväe juhataja ametiaja pikkus on viis aastat, kuid valitsusel on õigus pikendada seda kahe aasta võrra, mida Terrase puhul ka tehti. Terrase ametiaeg saab läbi 5. detsembril 2018 ja ta arvatakse reservi."



- 83 Percent of Latvia’s Ethnic Minorities Now Feel Close Ties to that Country, New Survey Shows
By Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
“… an increase from 67 percent just two years ago, according to the second biannual report on such attitudes prepared by the Latvian Ministry of Culture."

- Joint project reveals fears of Russians in Estonia
(Postimees)








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Wednesday 8. 
November
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- Põhiseaduse asjatundjad: President ei peaks olema riigikaitse kõrgeim juht
(ERR)
"Praegune riigikaitse kõrgeima juhi mudel läheb aastasse 1938, president Pätsi ja ülemjuhataja Laidoneri aega, mis ei sobitu ei meie tänasesse parlamentaarsesse riigikorda ega tänasesse julgeolekupilti," tõdes üks õigusasjatundjatest."



- Nordica jõuab kasumisse oodatust kaks aastat varem
(Äripäev)
"Kui senimaani on Nordica äriplaan ette näinud, et ettevõte jõuab kasumisse alles aastal 2019, siis reaalsus näib tulevat palju helgem. Nimelt teatas ettevõte täna, et jõuab kasumisse tõenäoliselt juba sel aastal."



- Kolm varianti Patarei tuleviku osas
(ERR)
"Patarei ehitati Vene keiser Nikolai I korraldusel kindlusehitisena, ametliku nimega Kaitsekasarm. Kindlustuse kompleks valmis 1840. aastal, ent muutunud sõjapidamise strateegia tõttu ei kasutatud seda kordagi sihipäraselt. Kuni Vene tsaarivõimu kokkuvarisemiseni kasutati Patareid kasarmuna. Aastatel 1920-2002 tegutses Patareis erinevate riigikorda ajal vangla."



- NATO leppis kokku uue juhtimisstruktuuri põhijoontes
(Postimees)
"Peasekretäri sõnul suurendab sõjalise juhtimisstruktuuri kaasajastamine alliansi võimet kiiresti vägesid liigutada ning liikmesmaid toetada. «Sõjajõudude liikumine ei hõlma ainult uusi väejuhatusi, vaid võimet liigutada vägesid ja varustust kiiresti õigete transpordivahendite ja õige taristuga."

- NATO agrees new military commands to protect Europe
(Reuters)
"Hoping to add to its deterrent factor against Russia, NATO defense ministers agreed to create an Atlantic command and a logistics command to help respond more quickly to threats in Europe."
—



- Finland not asking for security guarantees from US
(Helsinki Times)
“… although it considers the country an important partner, the presence of which has a stabilising impact on the entire Baltic Sea Region, views Jussi Niinistö (BR), the Minister of Defence."

- Finland invites USA to join large-scale military exercises in 2021
(Politico-Europe | Yle)
"Finland and its neighbor Sweden have centered their defense strategies for decades on neutrality and refraining from participating with the big military alliances on their doorsteps. But the annexation of Crimea and war in Ukraine in 2014 changed that calculus in Northern Europe. ...”
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Tuesday 7. 
November
_____________


- Kapo pidas kinni FSB agendi, kelle sihtmärgid olid Eesti riigiasutused
(ERR)

- Estonia arrests suspected Russian FSB agent
(Reuters | others)
"The man was stopped at the weekend as he prepared to leave Estonia for Russia from the north-east border town of Narva. He was formally charged on Monday in a Tallinn court. “A person, who is a Russian citizen, is suspected of acting as an FSB agent in the preparation of a computer crime against the Republic of Estonia,” the prosecutors office said. “The target of his action against Estonia was the Estonian state authorities.”
—
“… bigger damage was prevented,” prosecutor Inna Ombler said."
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—
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- Lithuania worries that a Russia-funded nuclear reactor in Belarus is part of a push for more power
(PRI)



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Monday 6. 
November
_____________


- Piecing together the Kremlin’s puzzle
by Edward Lucas
(CEPA)
"Had Russia played its cards differently we would have no NATO expansion, let alone territorial defense. It would have far stronger influence in Western capitals. The warnings of the former captive nations (and of people like me) would have seemed like ridiculous scaremongering."



- In Finland, Mattis backs creation of a hybrid warfare center focused on Russia
(Washington Post)




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Russia in 1917
“The Bolshevik Revolution"
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✔︎ 100 years later, Bolshevism is back. And we should be worried.
by Anne Applebaum
(Washington Post)
“… Bolsheviks always envisioned actual class warfare, accompanied by actual mass violence, which would physically destroy the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie, physically destroy their shops and factories, physically destroy the schools, the courts, the press. In October 1917, they began using that mass violence."
—
"Within two decades of October 1917, the Revolution had devoured not only its children, but also its founders - the men and women who had been motivated by such passion for destruction. It created not a beautiful new civilization but an angry, unhappy, and embittered society, one that squandered its resources, built ugly, inhuman cities, and broke new ground in atrocity and mass murder."



- ‘We have Awakened a Monster’ – How Bolsheviks Laid the Foundation for Rise of Today's Islamist Radicalism
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
“… what might be called “the birth certificates” of 20th and 21st century anti-Western Islamist radicalism are the Soviet government’s appeal “To All the Toiling Muslims of Russia and the East” of December 3, 1917; and the shariat appeal by the Bolshevik-organized First Congress of Peoples of the East which took place in Baku, September 1-8, 1920.”



- Russia's Unloved Anniversary
(Spiegel)



- The legacies of 1917
(Eurozine)
"Russia has yet to come to terms with the consequences of 1917."



- Revolution Centenary Unearths Debate Over Lenin’s Corpse
(The Moscow Times - 3. Nov.)
"On Thursday, leader of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov said that it was “high time” to bury Lenin’s body, and called on President Vladimir Putin to put the issue to rest."
--
“Enough staring at Lenin’s corpse,” Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel. “It is wrong that in the heart of Russia, on Red Square, there is a coffin with a dead man."



- One family’s divergent views of the Bolshevik revolution tell a tale of Russia’s complicated past - and present 
(Christian Science Monitor)
“… splits are everywhere - in opinion polls, at family dinner tables, in the commentary of guides at history exhibits in the capital."



- Vene kirjanikud ja Suur Oktoober
(ERR)



- Putin’s Russia Wrestles with the Meaning of Trotsky and Revolution
(The New Yorker)



- Russia has its czar a century after the October Revolution
(Washington Post)

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Posted by at

03 November, 2017


✔︎ Estonia’s “impossible” citizenship myth is busted. 
by Urve Eslas

✔︎ Estonians abroad can apply for new ID card via email  (EER)

✔︎ Finland plans large-scale military drills with the United States and Sweden in 2020  (Reuters)

- Purtse mõis foto:

- On-line version:

- Archive:


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Friday 3. 
November
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✔︎ Estonia Orders Online ID Lock-Down to Fix a Security Flaw
(ERR | Reuters)
"The government supported a proposal by the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) and the Estonian Information System’s Authority (RIA) to suspend certificates of ID-cards sporting a security vulnerability … Both the Estonian government and Infineon have said there are no signs the security flaw had been exploited.”
--



✔︎ Estonians abroad can apply for new ID card via email
(ERR)
"Margit Ratnik, head of the Development Department of the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA), recommends Estonians abroad to first continue trying to renew their ID card certificates remotely. "The first attempt may not work, but it may work after the second attempt," Ratnik said. "Definitely give it a few tries."
--
"Those who are still unable to renew their certificates, however, can apply for a replacement ID card on the basis of a guarantee procedure via email by sending a letter to abi@id.ee including their name, personal identification code (isikukood), the document number, and email address. … The new ID card will still have to be picked up in person."



✔︎ ID-kaardi probleemist: väga paljud ei peaks üldse mures olema
(ERR)
"Tegemist on sellise olukorraga, kus väga paljud inimesed ei peaks üldse mures olema, sest selleks pole põhjust, rääkis Geenius.ee vastutav väljaandja Henrik Roonemaa ID-kaardi sertifikaatide probleemist."



- Myth Busted: Estonia’s “Impossible” Citizenship
by Urve Eslas
(CEPA)
"In late October, (Pro-Kremlin) RT aired a video filmed in Estonia claiming that the Estonian government discriminates against Estonian Russians by making the process of gaining citizenship very difficult and costly for ordinary people. Yet as a study shows, non-citizens do not apply for citizenship because not having it is more convenient.”
—
“… all non-citizens living in Estonia receive residence permits and so-called “gray passports.” This gives non-citizens all the rights full-fledged Estonian citizens enjoy except for voting in general elections (all inhabitants of Estonia are eligible to vote in local elections). In addition, gray passport holders may travel abroad. … it is easier to travel with undetermined citizenship; Estonian citizens need visas to travel to Russia, but “gray passport” holders can travel visa-free to both Russia and the EU."
--
Also appeared on ‘StopFake':
 


- How big is Russia’s influence in Estonia?
by Olena Makarenko
(Euromaidan Press)
"Euromaidan Press talked to Dmitri Teperik, Chief Executive of International Center for Defense and Security in Estonia, to find out what kinds of approaches the Russian Federation practices in the Baltic state, how deep Estonia’s dependence on Russia is, and what Ukraine can learn from Estonia’s experience."



- See imeline värviline sügis
(Postimees fotod)


"Septembrikuu lõpus käivitas Tarbija24 fotokonkursi.”



- Venemaa harjutas Zapadil NATO-vastast sõda ja Balti riikide vallutamist
(ERR)
"Soome ajaleht Helsingin Sanomat analüüsis pikemalt, mida Venemaa tegelikult sõjaväeõppuse Zapad käigus harjutas. Väljaande hinnangul oli õppuse teemaks täiemahuline ja moodsa relvastusega sõda NATO vastu, Balti riikide vallutamine ning konflikt, mille käigus ei peetud ka Soomet neutraalseks riigiks."



- For Uber, if only Estonia were Europe
(Politico-Europe)
"Estonia’s rather exceptional when it comes to openness to disruptive companies. And even in this northern Baltic country, Uber’s arrival in Tallinn prompted protests by taxi drivers. It took Estonian regulators and members of parliament close to two years to mediate between concerned parties to agree on a law ..."



- iPhone X jõudis Eestisse
(Postimees)
"Telekomifirmas Elisa algab uue telefoni hind 1179 eurost või 32,75 eurost kuus."



- Finland plans military drill with United States and Sweden
(Reuters)
"The war games will not take place until 2020 at the earliest and will be similar to neighboring Sweden’s “Aurora” drill that involved 19,000 troops …"



- How Putin could yet save Britain from Brexit
by Mark Galeotti
(The Guardian)
"Word of Russian ‘black cash’ financing (of) leave campaigns is fast becoming a torrent. As the inquiries pile up, hard evidence could delegitimise the EU referendum."



- We must get to the truth about Russia and Brexit
by Edward Lucas
(The Times-Uk)
"Some secrets are so unpleasant that we flinch from uncovering them. That is how Theresa May’s government is reacting both to the looming investigation at home into Russian meddling in the Brexit campaign, and to the British connection in the Kremlin’s interference in American politics."




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Thursday 2. 
November
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✔︎ Kuulujutt: USA võib plaanida tuumarelva toomist Baltikumi 
(Eesti Ekspress)

- Demnächst überm Westerwald?
(Zeit Online)

- Should the U.S. Send More Nuclear Weapons to Europe?
(National Interest - 2015)



- Selline tuleb kommunismiohvrite memoriaal Maarjamäele
(ERR)
"Tuleva aasta sügiseks peaks Tallinnas Maarjamäel valmima kommunismiohvrite memoriaal „Teekond”, mis hakkab laiuma umbes 30 000 ruutmeetril ja läheb maksma ligi kaheksa miljonit eurot."



- Kaljulaid on Forbes List: World's 100 Most Powerful Women
(Forbes | Delfi)
—
—



- How the Russian ads looked to 150m Facebook viewers
(Financial Times - login)
"Stark evidence of how Kremlin-connected troll farm sought to skew the US election." 
--
"The ads mix grammatical errors with a keen sense of the nation’s political pressure points - and flashes of wacky creativity that are hard to ignore."

- Seven things you should know about pro-Kremlin disinformation
(EU vs Disinfo)



- Break-up of Western states dangerous and in Russia's interest
(ERR)
"In an interview with Spanish daily El País, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves talked about how Russia's continued attempts to disrupt democratic processes fit in with the current situation in Catalonia."

- “Rusia desea mucho debilitar nuestras democracias, promoviendo la discordia y el separatismo”
(El País)
"Era presidente cuando su país, un Estado digital en el que los independentistas catalanes buscan un modelo, sufrió en 2007 la agresión más feroz sufrida hasta entonces en Internet."



- Pakistani community in Estonia ‘highly qualified and skilled’
(Geo News - Pakistan)
"30% of the community is highly skilled engineers and software engineers who obtained jobs after completion of their education in Estonia, a country of 1.3 million in the Baltic area. 20% are either self-employed or have odd jobs. The rest are mostly students of PhD, Masters and Bachelors degree programs."



- Ukraine's War Wounds
by Christopher Miller
(RFERL)
[Excellent multi-media report.]
-- 
"As the fourth year of conflict in eastern Ukraine ground on, I journeyed along the front line in Donbas and saw fresh traumas and few signs of healing."

- How to End the War in Eastern Ukraine
(Atlantic Council)
“… despite fears that President Donald Trump might throw Ukraine under the bus for the sake of a reset with Moscow, the administration has taken a clear position that better relations with Russia are impossible without a resolution of the Ukraine crisis. Administration officials have developed a reasonably coherent strategy aimed at achieving a diplomatic solution, and they have appointed a capable diplomat, Kurt Volker, to carry it out."

- Opinion: Mr. Putin - Turning Neighbor into Adversary
(The Moscow News)



- Ukraine Believes Paul Manafort’s Crimes Go Way Beyond Money Laundering
by Anna Nemtsova
(The Daily Beast)
"Manafort had racked up this fortune as an adviser to the infamously corrupt Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, who fled into exile in Russia in 2014. So, to see Manafort brought up on charges and threatened with jail time was considered a triumph for Ukraine’s Revolution of Dignity, which overthrew Yanukovych. During the uprising, which centered on Kiev’s central square, the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, more than 100 people lost their lives in 2014."

- Ukraine Wants To Question Manafort, But Says Requests To U.S. Have Gone Unanswered
(RFERL)





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Wednesday 1. 
November
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- Arvamus: Miks Ida-Virumaast ei saa Katalooniat
Andrei Kuzitškin
(ERR)
"Seoses tormilise olukorraga Kataloonias hakati Eesti blogides arutama, millised võiksid olla väljavaated korraldada iseseisvusreferendum Narvas ja mõnes Ida-Virumaa venekeelses linnas.”
—
"Ida-Virumaa on otsekui vastandmärgiga Kataloonia."



- NATO’s Eastern Flank and Its Future Relationship With Russia
by Judy Dempsey
(Carnegie Europe)
"Though there are differing views among NATO members about how to beef up the Eastern flank, the political consensus—that the flank has to be defended—has held."
--
"Consider permanently basing troops in the Baltic states and Poland. The present arrangements are too easy to dismantle. NATO’s Eastern flank members need permanent reassurance."

- NATO’s Shaky Return to Collective Defense
(Carnegie Europe)



- The Kremlin's 20 Toxic Tactics
by Edward Lucas
(CEPA)
"A particularly aggravating mistake is the assumption in much of the West that this problem is somehow recent. It is not. All the 20 tactics above have been tried in the frontline states in previous years, in many cases starting in the early 1990s. People in these countries—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Central Europe, Georgia, Ukraine and elsewhere—warned us. In vain. "



- Lithuania, Leery of Moscow, Spars With Belarus Over Nuclear Reactor
(Foreign Policy)
"A nuclear power plant (is) being built in the small town of Ostrovets in neighboring Belarus, just 12 miles from the Lithuanian border and 30 miles from Vilnius. In a region still scarred by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the reactor’s proximity and worries about safety standards and environmental impact have Lithuanian officials on edge and sounding the alarm.”
—
"“Ostrovets can become Moscow’s tool of blackmail over Lithuania.”



- Basic income for everyone: Finland shows it really can work
(The Guardian)



- Catalonia’s crisis is turning into a European problem
(Washington Post | others)
"(Deposed Catalan regional president) Carles Puigdemont and several other senior Catalan officials made their way to Brussels, the capital of Belgium and, more importantly, the European Union. Back home, he and a number of his allies face rebellion and sedition charges, which could lead to a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Though Catalonia's secessionists have won next to no sympathy from foreign governments, they pinned their hopes on a romantic loyalty to the European project and its liberal values. Their cause is only creating headaches for E.U. administrators and statesmen."
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Tuesday 31. 
October
_____________


- Martin Luther: 95 teesi seina külge naelutamine algatas kirikulõhe
(Postimees)
"Kuigi Luther ei olnud esimene kirikuvõimule vastu astuja, langes tema algatatud vastupanuliikumine ajaliselt kokku trükipressi leiutamisega, mis võimaldas ideedel varasemast oluliselt kiiremini levida."

- Banned under Soviets, Lutherans enjoy a revival in Baltics
(Deutsche Welle)
"When the Baltic countries were occupied by the Russians in 1940 as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, the persecution of Christian priests and believers began. According to the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church, all Christian organizations were dissolved and church property confiscated. Priests were banished to Siberia."

- Martin Luther, the Reformation, and Women
(Deutsche Welle - video)
[The story of Katharina von Bora, Martin Luther’s wife, who became one of the most famous women in Europe at a time when the status of women was very low.]  



- Politsei tulistas Vabaduse väljakul noaga vehkinud meest rindkerre
(Delfi | ERR)
—




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Monday 30. 
October
_____________


- Wary of Russia, Finns take another look at NATO
(Politico-Europe)
"Moscow’s military assertiveness makes the alliance an issue in the upcoming presidential election. … Repeated incursions into Baltic and Nordic airspace by Russians jets have only added to the unease.”

- Niinistö: Nato membership should be decided only by referendum
(Helsinki Times)



- How a former Soviet state became one of the world's most advanced digital nations
(Alphr)
“We essentially skipped the generation of ICT infrastructure which dominated the 1990s and the early 2000s … To give an example: since so few people had landline phones under Soviet occupation, many simply leapfrogged to mobile phones. … Since cheque books were never introduced in Estonia, the post-Soviet country went straight ahead with bank cards, which made the transition to online banking easy. Hansabank launched the first electronic banking solution in 1993 …"



- Ukraine: Manafort Indictment Welcomed
(RFERL)
"The news was welcomed by many in Ukraine, where Manafort has not been actively pursued, much to the dismay of many Ukrainians, especially anti-corruption campaigners and investigative journalists."
--
“While American journalists report about the ‘surrender’ of Manafort, Ukrainians openly rejoice.” 
—
"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's administration declined to comment on the indictment."

- Robert Mueller’s Show of Strength - A Quick and Dirty Analysis
(Lawfare)
"Mueller’s opening bid is a remarkable show of strength. He has a cooperating witness from inside the campaign’s interactions with the Russians. And he is alleging not mere technical infractions of law but astonishing criminality on the part of Trump’s campaign manager, a man who also attended the Trump Tower meeting."
--
"Any hope the White House may have had that the Mueller investigation might be fading away vanished Monday morning."
--







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Russia
“Trust No One"
_____________


- Report: “Russia Military Power: 
Building a Military to Support Great Power Aspirations"
(Defense Intelligence Agency)
[Everything you wanted to know about Russia’s military, but were afraid to ask.]



- Seven Important Russian Observations
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
“… insightful observations that should not be missed."



- Opinion: Why is Trump so obsessed with Russia?
by Joe Scarborough
(Washington Post)



- ‘Why Do People in Former Soviet Republics Hate Everything Russian?’
(Window on Eurasia)
“(Moscow historian Sergey Volkov) says, when the former Soviet republics attack anything Soviet, Moscow goes into hysterics; but when they attack something from the tsarist past, the Russian reaction is much calmer or even non-existent. The leaders of the republics have learned that lesson."
--
  "Those who want to remain friendly with Moscow focus on the latter and avoid doing too much of the former, while those whose existence is based on hostility to Moscow, such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Ukraine, do both but do not refrain from doing the former." 



- ‘The Russians have succeeded beyond their wildest expectations’
(Politico-Europe)
"Former intelligence chief James Clapper says President Trump is dead wrong about Russian interference in America’s elections. And they’re going to get away with it again, he warns.”
—
"Clapper is sticking with his view that the allegations are “worse than Watergate,” given that the Russiagate investigation involves “a foreign adversary actively and aggressively and directly engaging in our political processes to interfere with them and to undermine our system, whereas in Watergate you were dealing with a two-bit petty burglary, domestic only.”



- Interviews: Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Anne Applebaum
(Politico)



- Putin Unveils Memorial to Victims of Soviet Repression, While His Own Repression Continues
(World Affairs Journal)

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