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13 April, 2018


✔︎ The Internal Security Service published its annual review of 2017


✔︎ Kaitsepolitseiameti Aastaraamat 2017 a.


✔︎  An internet bot looks for news related to Estonia in the Russian media

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- On-line version:

- 2014-2018 Archive:
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Friday 13. April
_____________


- Estonia offers free genetic testing in nationwide experiment
(Washington Post)
"Estonia has started offering residents free genetic profiling in a nationwide experiment aimed at minimizing risks for typical diseases and encouraging a healthier lifestyle through personalized data reports. … Lili Milani, a researcher with the Estonian Genome Center at the University of Tartu, said Thursday the scheme kicked off in March and will initially cover some 100,000 volunteers …”



- Desynchronization of Baltic grid crucial due to geopolitical aspects
(ERR)
"Decoupling from the Russian power system and integrating into the Continental European power system is vital for national security," Estonian transmission system operator Elering CEO Taavi Veskimägi said in a press release on Friday. "This process is as important to the Baltic countries as was our accession to NATO and the EU. The synchronization process reflects our deep cooperation with other societies that share our values and way of life."



- Russia recruiting young spies from Estonia: report
(Radio Poland)
“… by offering them free excursions and promoting the notion that agents are heroes."



- Rail Baltica: Brexit casting doubt over €5.8bn Estonia-Poland train line
(Euronews)
"Brussels has already given €765 million to the Rail Baltica scheme … But the CEO of the €5.8 billion project has admitted there are no guarantees over getting future European funding. … Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — on their own just cannot afford something like this."



- Maria-Ann Rohemäe teist aastat maailma mõjukaimate otsuste sõlmpunktis
(Delfi)



- No longer ‘the weak gender’ in Lithuania
(Politico-Europe)
"At the site of basic training for Lithuania’s National Defense Volunteer Forces, a unit commander barks an odd order: “Soldiers with long hair to the front!” And with that, a third of the group changes position. Female faces are now front and center."
https://www.politico.eu/interactive/in-pictures-no-longer-the-weak-gender-in-lithuania/



- Russian Navy Helicopter Crashes in Baltic Sea off Kaliningrad, Killing 2 two test pilots
(The Moscow Times)

- Vene relvajõudude helikopter Ka-29 kukkus Läänemerre
(ERR)





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Thursday 12. April
_____________


✔︎ Kaitsepolitseiameti Aastaraamat 2017 a.
(KAPO)


- Välisriigid korraldasid mitu Eesti-vastast küberoperatsiooni
(Postimees)

- Russia exploiting war memorials to stir up conflicts abroad
(ERR)

- Russia's divisive policy efforts increasingly targeting youngsters
(ERR)

- KAPO: Venekeelseid noori püütakse Eesti vastu ässitada
(Reporter)

- Estonia Revealed It Has Captured Four Russian Spies In The Last Year
(BuzzFeed)

- Kaitsepolitsei tabas veel ühe Vene sõjaväeluure kaastöötaja
(Postimees)



- Lõuna-Eesti linnade keskväljakud saavad täiesti uue ilme
(Lõunaeestlane - Nov. 2017)
"Nii Võru, Valga, Põlva kui Tõrva kesklinnad muutuvad tundmatuseni. Näiteks Võrus võetakse maha kiriku pargi puud ja asemele tuleb suur lage väljak. Võidutöö kandis nime Urban Gadget (linnavidin), selle autor on Villem Tomiste, kelle järgi on võimalik tühjal platsil eri vidinaid ümber paigutada."

- Võru keskväljaku rajamist alustati pargipuude langetamisest
(Lõuna Leht)
—


- Photos: Restoration of Võru’s Central Square Underway
(Lõuna Leht)



- Mullu raiuti Eestis 11 miljonit tihumeetrit metsa
(ERR)
"Eestis oli mullune raiemaht 11 miljonit tihumeetrit metsa, aasta varem aga 10,7 miljonit tihumeetrit, selgus keskkonnaagentuuri infopäeval, kus tutvustati Eesti metsavaru ja raiemahu värskeid andmeid."

- Metsa kasvab hoogsamalt, kui raiutakse
(Postimees)
"Mullu raiuti 11 miljonit, kuid juurde kasvas 16,1 miljonit tihumeetrit puitu."



- Varjupaigataotleja Venemaalt mõisteti süüdi luuramises FSB kasuks
(Delfi)



- The Foundation, Evolution, and Future of the Belarusian Regime
(Carnegie Moscow Center)
"Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has built a highly consolidated, adaptive authoritarian regime. Examining how the Belarusian political system is structured and how its relationships with its citizens, Russia, and the West have evolved may help shed light on possible paths that Minsk could take as Lukashenko ages and economic challenges continue to mount."
or:






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Wednesday 11. April
_____________


- Professor Mander peab Emajõe suurimaks ohuks fosforit
(ERR)
"Ehkki Tartumaale kavandatav tselluloositehas ei tuleks linna territooriumile ega vahetult Emajõe äärde, on tartlased, sh mitmed teadlased uuringute läbiviimise vastu. Tartu Ülikooli professor Ülo Mander peab suurimaks ohuks jõe tervisele fosforit, mis selle joomis- ja ujumiskõlbmatuks muudaks."



- Moscow Plans New Arctic Port to Bypass Baltics and Ukraine
by Paul Goble
(Jamestown Org. - 3. April)
"If these Russian plans prove successful, they will deprive Ukraine and the Baltics of the transit fees they have long depended upon. Indeed, judging from the comments of Moscow officials, the Russian government is more interested in using such new routes to apply political leverage on at least some of these countries than it is in ensuring Russia’s economic interests.”
—
“... the Russian declaration signals just how important it is for the Baltic States to develop north-south rail links from Finland in the north to Poland and Europe in the south, to reduce to a minimum their dependence on Russian transit fees, and to develop their own economic capacity. The European Union and the West more generally can help in all three of these areas. If they do, Moscow’s latest threats about “bypassing” the Baltics and Ukraine will backfire, in fact helping these countries achieve genuine independence from Moscow and reducing still further Russian influence over them."

- Is Germany Souring on Russia’s Nord Stream?
(Foreign Policy)
"German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday staked out what appears to be a tougher stance on a huge Russian energy project that’s tearing Europe apart, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline across the Baltic Sea."



- Five Truly Terrifying Messages of Russian Propaganda This Week
(Window on Eurasia)



- Europe’s AI delusion
(Politico-Europe)
"Brussels is failing to grasp threats and opportunities of artificial intelligence. … the great conflict of our time is about who can control the next wave of technological development: the widespread application of artificial intelligence in the economic and military spheres. That’s why it’s so worrying that while China has been quick to react to the threats and opportunities of AI, the European Union — if the draft of its AI strategy is anything to go by — has yet to recognize the technology’s epochal significance."

- Europe divided over robot ‘personhood’
(Politico)
"In letter to Commission, 156 experts from 14 countries, including computer scientists, law professors and CEOs, warn that granting robots legal personhood would be “inappropriate” from a “legal and ethical perspective.”

- We’re in an ‘Arms Race’ With Russia, but AI Will Save Us: Zuckerberg
(Foreign Policy)
“… Zuckerberg said artificial intelligence, or AI, represents the best solution to misinformation on Facebook but won’t be ready for another five to 10 years."





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Tuesday 10. April
_____________


- The Threat Within NATO
(The Atlantic)
"From Budapest to Warsaw to Ankara, a new generation of strongmen within the alliance seeks to govern in a manner closer to that of Putin than to that of the democratic reformers of the immediate post-Cold War epoch. Which raises the question of whether an alliance, designed to contain the Soviet Union and ostensibly organized around democratic ideals, can endure attacks on the rule of law by a growing subset of its members.”



- Kaljulaid met with French president Emmanuel Macron
(ERR)
“… joined by her Latvian and Lithuanian colleagues Raimonds Vējonis and Dalia Grybauskaitė."



- Identity crisis in Lithuania’s bohemian republic
(Politico-Europe)
"Užupis was founded 20 years ago, when a group of artists moved to a high-crime neighborhood in Vilnius, declared independence and set about creating a utopian society."



- PPA: loodame, et välismaalased tasuvad Eestis saadud liiklustrahvid vabatahtlikult, trahviotsuseid teise riiki me ei saada
(Delfi)
"Soome ajaleht Italehti kirjutas eile, et välismaalased võivad Eesti teedel kartmatult kiirust ületada, sest keegi neilt trahve välja ei nõua. PPA kiidab, et iga teine välismaalane tasub vabatahtlikult trahvi, ent vabatahtlikkusel asi põhinebki - keegi neilt otse trahve välja ei nõua."



- Russia’s anxious northern neighbors toughen up
(Politico-Europe)
"With relations between the West and Moscow at a post-Cold War low point, Russia’s closest EU neighbors are turning to tougher military and financial measures to send a message to Vladimir Putin. At a White House meeting last week, the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania asked Donald Trump to do more to deter Russia by bolstering U.S. forces in Eastern Europe.”



- Propamon otsib Venemaa meediakanalitest Eestiga seotud uudiseid
--




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Hungary
_____________


- A Democracy Disappears
by Andrew Sullivan
(New York Magazine)
"I mean how you turn a prosperous 21st-century liberal democracy into an illiberal one, and then into a de facto dictatorship. There are no tanks; no mass arrests of opposition politicians; no coups; no direct assaults on the rule of law; and no new totalizing ideology. There is, in fact, no moment where you can definitively say that the liberal democracy has ceased to exist. But in Hungary, an upstanding member of the European Union, liberal democracy is now dead, pining for the fjords, nailed to the perch, an unmistakably ex-democracy."

- The Big Winners in Hungary’s Elections? Fear, Hate, and Putin
by Anna Nemtsova
(The Daily Beast)
“In Russia the Kremlin celebrated Orban’s victory as its own. Senator of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev said on Monday that Orban’s victory showed that Hungary managed to defend its national interests in the European Union and NATO. “This [EU/NATO] line, if we slightly simplify it, means the following: We are in solidarity with our partners for as long as they do not contradict with our interests.” 

- European Parliament report calls for sanctions procedure against Hungary
(Politico-Europe)
“… systemic threat to democracy, the rule of law and fundamental rights."

- Pro-migrant groups targeted after Hungary's election
(Christian Science Monitor)
"A day after it won an overwhelming election victory on an anti-migration platform, the right-wing populist party of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said it would limit the ability of civic groups to help migrants and refugees."

- What Viktor Orbán's Third Win Means for Europe
(Spiegel)

- For European right, Hungary is a family affair
(Politico-Europe)

- Opinion: EU looks away as Orban stays on in Hungary
(Deutsche Welle)

- Viktor Orbán’s Survival Games
(Carnegie Europe)

- Central Europe: How Illiberal Leaders Attack Civil Society
(Foreign Policy)




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Russia
“Trust No One"
_____________


- Under Russian Terror, All Exiles Are Fearful and All Deaths Are Suspicious
by Masha Gessen
(The New Yorker)
"Hundreds of the Kremlin’s active opponents have left Russia in the last six years, moving the intellectual center of the opposition abroad, much as it happened in the seventies. In London, New York, and the Baltic republics, they continue to meet, organize, and plan a post-Putin future; in fact, the former chess champion Garry Kasparov, who moved to New York five years ago, chaired this week the Forum for a Free Russia, the fifth such gathering he has organized, in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. Every person at the gathering, and scores of other Russian activists who are not there, have watched the unfolding Skripal investigation and wondered, at least occasionally, if they might not be next."



- Russia facing 100 years of isolation, says Putin aide Vladislav Surkov
(The Times-Uk)
“… the consequences of the annexation of Crimea in 2014 were only now becoming apparent. “The event is the conclusion of Russia’s epic journey towards the West, the ending of numerous fruitless attempts to become part of western civilisation, to inter-marry with the ‘good family’ of European nations,” he wrote in a sweeping essay."



- Editorial: Blocking Telegram is a blow to Russia's future
(Meduza)
"Moscow’s Tagansky District Court has sanctioned the government’s decision to block Telegram, one of the world’s most recognizable technology companies with roots in Russia. If this happened abroad, it would be like the United States banning Facebook or Amazon, the European Union banning Skype or Spotify …"



- Syria: Pentagon Worried About Accidentally Killing Russian Troops 
(Task & Purpose)
"Clearly neither Moscow nor Washington wants a direct conflict in Syria. The U.S. has about 2,000 troops deployed chiefly in the country’s north, where they support Kurdish troops fighting Islamic State. The Pentagon uses a so-called deconfliction hotline from its air base in Qatar to make sure U.S. and Russian aircraft avoid each other in Syrian airspace.”
—
"The Russian military contingent in Syria is slightly smaller — estimated at fewer than 2,000 troops and fewer than 100 warplanes. So the U.S. and its allies could carry out targeted reprisals on Syrian military targets with limited risk of causing Russian casualties, especially if the U.S. warns Moscow ahead of the strikes, U.S. officials say."



- Return of Soviet-Style Conformity to Russia ‘Shocking’ 
(Window on Eurasia)
“… it has become more difficult to find information or to speak with sources. As in Soviet times, people are suspicious of journalists and the number of sources is shrinking. … But it is shocking how easily Soviet-style conformity has returned. People who think and understand are playing in some kind of a theater” in which they know how they are expected to speak and act even though “internally, they have remained the same.”

- Russians disagree overwhelmingly with the Kremlin: oligarchs still exist
(Meduza)

- Russians Hate Both Oligarchs and America



- How Putin’s Folly Could Lead to a Middle East War
(Politico)
"Putin is now in the unlikely position of trying to contain the outbreak of what could be the ugliest Middle East war of the 21st century between Iran and Israel."



- Opinion: Putin Is Overmatched and Frightened
(Real Clear World)
"Moscow is now hesitant, taken by surprise at Western vehemence. They are expelling Western diplomats and closing the St. Petersburg consulate. But the fact remains that one country, Russia, is a pariah, confronted by nearly 30. The tables are turning on Moscow."


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_






Posted by at

06 April, 2018





✔︎ President Kaljulaid visited the White House this past week to meet with President Trump. She did many interviews with the gaggle of US and international press outlets that were following the story. You’ll find some of these interviews scattered throughout this week’s newsletter.


✔︎ “Estonian people speaking Russian language, do not necessarily speak Putin language.”  (Kaljulaid during an interview with UK’s Channel 4 News)


✔︎ Kaljulaid saabus Valgesse Majja (various sources)


✔︎ On Sunday Hungary holds one of its most unpredictable parliamentary elections since 1990.  (German Marshall Fund)


✔︎ Estonia is Emerging Europe’s Most Media Literate Country  (Emerging Europe)


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- Archive:



_____________

Friday 6. April
_____________


- Securing the Nordic-Baltic region
by Eoin Micheál McNamara
(NATO Review Magazine)
"The region is of rising importance in the context of Europe’s changing security order – and defence and deterrence is set to be high on the agenda at NATO’s summit meeting in Warsaw, Poland, in July."



- EU Remains Unprepared for the Next Migration Crisis
by Stefan Lehne
(Carnegie Europe)
"Another wave of mass migration is likely to hit Europe, and unless the EU can muster collective action, the Schengen system of passport-free travel could be swept away.”
—
"The days of a Willkommenskultur (welcoming culture) are unlikely to come back."




- Kuningamäe tulevik | The Future of Königsberg
by Jõri Saar
"Köningsberg tuleks pärast Vene vägede lahkumist viia otseselt Euroopa Liidu jurisdiktsiooni alla.”


[The author suggests that Königsberg / Kaliningrad Oblast should be placed under the EU’s jurisdiction when Russian forces leave.]



- UK Report: Salisbury poison made at Russia’s Shikhany military base
(The Times - UK)
[The Shikhany military research base in southwest Russia has been identified as the source of the novichok nerve agent used at Salisbury. … The stockpiles detected at Shikhany were far smaller than would be used as a battlefield weapon, suggesting their use in targeted killings.]

- Venemaa eitas Novitšoki pärinemist Šihhanõ linnast
(ERR)

- Novichok nerve agents – Russia's dangerous 'new’ poison
(Deutsche Welle)
"The family of compounds, which were developed in the 1970s and 80s, comprise numerous nerve agents. All contain an organophosphorous core. … one of the less dangerous compounds were made public during the Soviet era … In essence, the nerve agent triggers a protein chain reaction, resulting in an uncontrolled bombardment of body tissue and organs with nerve signals by a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine. The signals continue and overload the tissues and the organs. Essentially, we end up with excess salivation, problems with breathing, because we can't control the muscles. It can lead to paralysis, convulsions and ultimately death if the dose is high enough or the exposure long enough."




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Thursday 5. April
_____________


- Estonia is Emerging Europe’s Most Media Literate Country
(Emerging Europe)
"A major new study by the Open Society Institute in Bulgaria has revealed that amongst emerging European countries, Estonia has by far the highest level of media literacy, ranking fifth in a list of 35 European countries surveyed, above both the UK and Germany. … Education remains the key component in dealing with the post-truth phenomenon – as the general education level as well as tailored media literacy training,” said the report’s author, Marin Lessenski ..."




- Estonia Eyeing Bigger Role in the U.N.
(WSJ - login required)
"Kaljulaid said Wednesday that her government is seeking a seat on the U.N. Security Council, where it plans to push governments around the world to take a stronger role in establishing cybersecurity norms and monitoring threats.”



- Interview: President Kaljulaid is Planning for the Future
(Wired)
"If you regulate for AI, you also regulate for machine learning, self-acting and autonomous systems. We want our state to be proactive to offer services to people. You need to carefully think how to make this offer safe to our people and their private data. We want AI to be safely grown in Estonia."



- Interview: ‘Estonian people who speak Russian language do not necessarily speak Putin language’
( UK’s Channel 4 | Delfi)
and



- Estonian troops say US and international military responders ‘fit like puzzle pieces’ after Russian defense drill
(Sofrep)



- How Europe's Parties Have Been Shifting Right
By Markus Wagner and Thomas Meyer
(Foreign Affairs)
"In 2017, far-right candidates achieved their best-ever results in presidential elections in Austria and France. After Italy’s parliamentary election in March, the radical-right Lega became the largest party in the conservative coalition. Radical-right parties have entered coalition governments in Austria and Norway, and in Denmark the Danish People’s Party currently supports the center-right minority government. In Germany and the Netherlands, meanwhile, radical-right parties made substantial gains in the 2017 parliamentary elections. These electoral victories have provoked alarm, leading many observers to ask whether radical-right parties are gaining new and unprecedented influence in European politics."




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Hungary
_____________


- Hungarian Politics Is About to Enter a New Period
(GMF)
"On April 8, Hungary holds one of its most unpredictable parliamentary elections since the beginning of the country’s recent democratic history in 1990."

- The Risks to Freedom in Hungary
by David Frum
(The Atlantic)
"Hungary is a NATO ally, a member nation of the European Union, a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights—and also, since 2010, an increasingly authoritarian and illiberal state. Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has politicized the country’s court, central bank, and media. … The country’s independent media has largely been stifled."

- How Viktor Orban became the real threat to the West
(Washington Post)
"Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban seeks to win reelection for a third consecutive term this Sunday."

- How Hungary’s Far-Right Extremists Became Warm and Fuzzy
(Foreign Policy)
"The Jobbik party, once known for its overt racism and anti-Semitism, is trying to reinvent itself as the responsible voice of the center."

- In Eastern Europe, the E.U. faces a rebellion more threatening than Brexit
(Washington Post)

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- Belarus: Putin Planning to Interfere in 2019 and 2020 Elections
by Paul Goble
(Window on Eurasia)
"Russians already now are “considering scenarios of a so-called ‘transit of power’ in Belarus” in the parliamentary and presidential elections slated for 2019 and 2020 and “will try to interfere … in order to bring to power someone who will be able to completely fulfill [Moscow’s] strategic interests,” Arseny Sivitsky says.”

Belarus remains very important for the Kremlin - it is a unique buffer and the shortest path for a corridor to Kaliningrad. Consequently, the Kremlin cannot allow Belarus to escape from its control.






- Russia's influence is much more than propaganda and fake news
(Euronews)
"Russia’s influence strategy is based on a "firehose of falsehood" propaganda model, grounded in a “shameless willingness to disseminate partial truths or outright fictions” through multiple channels simultaneously."



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Wednesday 4. April
_____________


- Interview: Kaljulaid Says She Is More Confident About Trump Administration's Foreign Policy
(NPR podcast)



- Baltics can rely on U.S. help
(Postimees)
"Kaljulaid expressed her satisfaction over the meeting with Trump when she said, both in the White House and in following interviews, how important Estonia’s contribution to its security is, which is something Trump praised her for in his characteristically exuberant style."



- Gen. Riho Terras met with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford in Washington
(ERR)
"NATO deterrent needs to be 'visible and tangible. … to make for a sufficient deterrent against Russia's increasingly aggressive behavior.”

- Estonia calls for deployment of US troops, Patriot missiles
(Euractiv)
 "We need our deterrence to be believable.” - Kaljulaid



- Intervjuu: Kersti Kaljulaid
(Eesti Päevaleht)
“… kolme Balti riigi presidendi mõtted Venemaa kohta tundusid Donald Trumpile loogilised."



- Commentary: Trump can do more for the Baltic states
by Agnia Grigas
(Reuters)
"The U.S. president should now craft a careful policy to show Washington’s support for the needs of the nations run by Lithuania’s Dalia Grybauskaite, Estonia’s Kersti Kaljulaid and Latvia’s Raimonds Vejonis.”
—
"Washington should turn to its Baltic allies for advice on plans to provide support for the nascent democracies in the East. The Baltic states and Poland have particularly close relations with countries like Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in the European Union’s Eastern Partnership (EaP); the leaders who met with Trump in Washington this week are among the best placed and informed to take the lead in shaping EU policy on this initiative."



- Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster Unleashes on Russia in Final Speech
(Foreign Policy | Atlantic Council)
“For too long, some nations have looked the other way in the face of these threats. Russia brazenly and implausibly denies its actions, and we have failed to impose sufficient costs,” McMaster said Tuesday night, speaking at an Atlantic Council dinner alongside leaders from the three Baltic nations in town to meet with President Donald Trump.”

McMaster Transcript:



- ERR Maria-Ann Rohemäe uuris Trumpi suhete kohta Putiniga
(Delfi)



- Estonia heard what it went to Washington to hear
(ERR)
"Baltic presidents' meeting with Trump was both symbolic and practical in nature.”
--
"Trump very seriously addressed first the history of how the U.S. never recognized the Soviet occupation of Estonia, through what our relationships as allies are today," noted the committee chairman Hannes Hanso. "He also said that he is very much looking forward to the next 100 years of our good and close allied relationship."



- Reporter’s Debrief: Trump luncheon for the Baltic Presidents
by Jenna Johnson
(Washington Post)
"President Trump spent nearly three minutes at a luncheon this week welcoming the presidents of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — whose difficult-to-pronounce names he never uttered publicly — and saying he should be given “credit” for pressuring countries like theirs to give more money to NATO."



- OpEd: Baltic presidents' meeting with Trump a ‘milestone'
(ERR)
“… in a greater diplomatic game, and that it had been one of several meetings currently happening with United States officials."



- Eesti otsustas USA toetuse eest hankida luurevahendeid ja tankitõrjemoona
(Postimees)
"Ameerika Ühendriikide tänavusest eelarvest on Balti riikide sõjalisele riigikaitsele erinevatest fondidest eraldatud toetusi kokku umbes 170 miljonit dollari ulatuses, mis jagatakse kolme riigi vahel."
—
- Estonia to buy anti-tank, artillery ammunition with US support



- EU Considers Funding Cuts for 'Visegrad Group’
(Spiegel)
 "Officials in Brussels are tired of transferring billions of euros each year to Eastern Europe only for the recipients to cause headache after headache. … The four Visegrad Group countries -- Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary -- alone have received around 150 billion euros in net subsidies from the EU budget since 2007.”



- Opinion: Poland is not sliding into dictatorship
by Karolina Wigura
(The Guardian)
"Today’s erosion of the rule of law is extremely worrying and can hardly be ignored. But a return to the pre-2015 period is neither possible nor desirable. Voters have simply become too critical of the flaws in the political setup that emerged from the 1990s. Law and Justice’s victory at the ballot box in 2015 was a result of widespread frustrations overlooked by many."




_____________

Tuesday 3. April
_____________


- Kersti Kaljulaid saabus Valgesse Majja
(ERR | Postimees | Delfi)
--
--



- Remarks by President Trump with Heads of the Baltic States
WH Official Transcript
(White House) 


- President Donald J. Trump’s Support for Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
WH Press Release
(White House)



- Baltic presidents met with U.S. President 
(Various sources)
--
—
--
—



- The U.S.-Baltic Presidential Summit: 100 Years with Russia
by Anke Schmidt-Felzmann
(FPRI)



- Peaminister Ratas: idapiiri ehitustööd peavad igal juhul jätkuma
(Lõuna Eestlane | Lõuna Leht)
"Eesti idapiir on ühtlasi Euroopa Liidu ja NATO välispiir, seetõttu on projekteerimisest saati olnud tegu suure ja ambitsioonika projektiga."
--



- NATO’s Bad Apples
(Carnegie Europe)
"Over the past few years—and in particular, over the past nine months—several members of the U.S.-led military alliance have run roughshod over NATO solidarity and the basic principles upon which the alliance was founded in April 1949 (NATO is unfortunately silent).”



- Vilkale metsamüügile annavad hoogu poliitikud ja roheaktivistid ning see on ohtlik
(Ärileht)
"Eesti suuremate maaomanike tabelis on suurim tõusja Graanul Invest."



- Russia threatens sanctions over Latvian language in schools
(BBC | Transitions)
"The language reform is being phased in; by September 2021 all 16 to 18-year-olds will be taught only in Latvian."
—






_____________

Monday 2. April
_____________


- Vene Balti laevastik siirdub Läänemerele õppusele
(Postimees | Delfi)
—
—
"Russian missiles will be tested in international waters unusually close to Sweden next week. Air traffic near Öland and Bornholm will have to be redirected. "I've never seen anything like it" says flight traffic chief Jörgen Andersson.” - Radio Sweden
—
- Defense Ministry not overly concerned about Russian missile tests
(ERR)



- Estonia’s president keeps faith with liberal democracy
(Financial Times)
"At 48, Kersti Kaljulaid is Estonia’s youngest president since the small Baltic state regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Yet her memories go back far enough to persuade her that, no matter how serious the challenges confronting her nation and other western democracies, they are in some respects less formidable than those that faced Estonia in the early 1990s."
--
"At that time, she recalls in an interview with the Financial Times, Estonian membership of Nato and the EU — the twin pillars of western security and prosperity — was far from assured. Russian troops were still stationed on Estonian soil and were not to leave until 1994."



- Opinion: Russia’s digital warfare has put Western democracies in the crosshairs
(McCleans - Canada)
"Sadly, our feeble institutional reaction to Moscow’s willingness to use digital warfare to destabilize our democracy has only emboldened Putin’s long game. … The willingness of the Republican Party’s traditional media ally, Fox News, to echo the narrative put out by the Kremlin is a troubling sign that Moscow’s weaponization of 'fake news' is working.”
—
" Long before anyone was paying attention, Kremlin-owned enterprises made massive investments in the world’s largest social media platforms through Russian billionaire, Yuri Milner."




_____________

Russia
“Trust No One"
_____________


- Putin’s Closest Cronies Are Hit With New U.S. Sanctions
(New York Times | others)
"The Trump administration imposed new sanctions on seven of Russia’s richest men and 17 top government officials on Friday in the latest effort to punish President Vladimir V. Putin’s inner circle for interference in the 2016 election and other Russian aggressions."
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- Opinion: Putin Has Overplayed His Hand
By William J. Burns
(New York Times)
"By meddling in the internal affairs and democratic fabric of America and its allies over the past couple of years, Mr. Putin has overplayed his hand. He is risk-tolerant to the point of recklessness, and he has picked a fight where the West has far more at stake than he does."



- Interview: Mikhail Khodorkovsky on how the Putin system works
(Chatham House)



- Are the Kemerovo Protests a Sign of More Backlash to Come for the Kremlin?
(Stratfor)
"The small Russian city of Kemerovo is making waves across the nation following a deadly fire at a shopping mall. On March 25, the blaze claimed nearly 70 people, including 41 children, along with a zoo full of animals. And in the days since, protests around the country have forced the Kremlin to turn its eye toward the growing internal crisis. The common theme among the demonstrations is a powerful condemnation of corruption, which many protesters have highlighted as the fundamental cause of the mall fire."

- Governor Of Russia's Kemerovo Region Resigns
(RFERL)



- Putin Regime Cutting Itself Off from Reality at Home and Abroad
(Window on Eurasia)



- Russia announces its smallest military draft in 12 years
(Meduza)
"This year’s spring draft, the country’s smallest in 12 years, comes as the number of draft-age men in Russia continues its eight-year decline." 



- Leaked emails expose Russian dirty tricks
(The Times)
"Russian attempts to fuel dissent and spread disinformation have been exposed by a cache of leaked documents that show what the Kremlin is prepared to pay for hacking, propaganda and rent-a-mob rallies.”
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"The emails also include an event and two books that would claim that an area of Ukraine had Russian heritage."
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"Other proposals included the orchestration of anti-Ukraine, pro-Russia rallies. These involved the transport of “sportsmen” trained in martial arts to agitate at the rallies, bribes to local media to feature the protests and bribes to police to turn a blind eye. A month of rallies in Kharkiv was priced at $19,200. It included 100 participants, three organisers and two lawyers. It is unclear if the rallies took place, though others orchestrated by the Kremlin did happen …"

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