Europe back in partial lockdown
(EU Observer)
Latest COVID cases in Baltics:
- 101 in Estonia
- 284 in Latvia
- 735 in Lithuania
(BNN)
“Koroonaviiruse andmestik.” - Eesti Terviseamet
“EU countries must step up against coronavirus.” - Politico-Europe
Usupuhastuspüha - 31. oktoober
“… sel päeval 1517. aastal naelutas Martin Luther Wittenbergi linnakiriku uksele 95 teesi, kus ta mõistis hukka patukustutuse sedelite müütamise.”
Vallo Ehasalu, Eesti Kirik 29.10.2008
— Friday 30. October —
Kaja Kallas: abielureferendumist peab saama tagasilöök EKRE-le
(ERR)
“Ei ole mitte mingit vahet, mida valitsus meilt kevadisel rahvaküsitlusel küsib. Selle küsimuse esitamise mõte on meid lõhestada, vähendada meie vabadusi ja minna vastuollu põhiseaduslike väärtustega …”
Eesti sai vihakõne kriminaliseerimata jätmise pärast Euroopast märgukirja
(Postimees)
“Euroopa Komisjon algatas täna Eesti suhtes rikkumismenetluse seoses vihakõne ja -üleskutsete kriminaliseerimata jätmisega. Teine rikkumine puudutab Schengeni piirieeskirju.”
Metsa etteraiumine jätab mehed ja masinad peagi tööta
Ülle Harju, Postimees
“Eesti metsapoliitika on vaid kümneaastase perspektiiviga.”
“Keskkonnaministeeriumi vastulause: metsanduse jätkusuutlikkus ei seisne ainult raiemahus.” - Postimees
Lessons from Estonia: why it excels at digital learning during Covid
(The Guardian)
“Studies in the Baltic state moved seamlessly online thanks to its early adoption of education technology.”
The Political Pendulum Swings in Lithuania
Milda Matačiūnaitė-Boyce, CEPA
“A new, optimistic coalition in the Baltic country hopes its victory is a death-blow to cronyism, ethnic politics, and rejuvenation of inclusive democracy.”
—
“In Lithuania, no political party has won the parliamentary election twice in a row. With a growing health crisis caused by the pandemic, budget deficit, and growing unemployment as the main issues at stake, Lithuanian voters last week came out in droves in support of the change. The election results bore out a desire for a state that is more transparent, innovative, and free – and where human dignity is valued and respected.”
Estonia to introduce new passport design
(Baltic Times)
“From January 1, the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board will start issuing passports with a new design. The data entered in the travel documents will remain the same, but the design of passports and security features will be updated. The first specimens of passports will be presented at the end of November.”
— Thursday 29. October —
Ratas in Paris: France-Estonia relations stronger than ever
(ERR)
“Prime Minister Jüri Ratas (Center) was on an official visit to France Wednesday, meeting President Emmanuel Macron. The pair signed a Franco-Estonian strategic partnership declaration, after an earlier declaration signed between France and the other two Baltic States, Latvia and Lithuania, had not received Estonian assent.”
EKRE tahab ERR-i uue telemaja ehitusrahast ilma jätta
(ERR)
“EKRE aseesimees ja siseminister Mart Helme ütles teisipäeva õhtul Jõhvis, et erakond on teinud ettepaneku seda raha ERR-ile mitte eraldada, ajendiks tõi ta rahvusringhäälingu propagandistliku tegevuse. Helme nimetas ERR-i töötajaid "niinimetatud ajakirjanikeks-propagandistideks", kes on veendunud, et neil on puutumatus.”
Opinion: Estonia does not need Rail Baltic
(ERR)
[The thoughts of Kai Rimmel, Conservative People's Party MP.]
Controversial Estonian pension reforms cross the finishing line
(IPE)
“… after its Supreme Court ruled last week that they did not contravene the country’s constitution.”
A Coercive History Lesson From Vladimir Putin
(Foreign Affairs)
“Putin is primarily concerned with two issues. One is the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, which Western historians have long believed “paved the way for the outbreak of the Second World War.” Putin holds that Stalin had no choice but to sign the pact with Germany. The other is the decisive role that the Soviet Union played in defeating the Nazis, which Putin believes other nations fail adequately to recognize.”
—
“If these were the views of a private individual, others could simply agree or disagree with them. But when a head of state presses them repeatedly, they become national ideological dogma. So far as the security services of an authoritarian state are concerned, they are nothing short of a call for action.”
— Wednesday 28. October —
Tallinnas oli toetusmeeleavaldus Poola protestijatele
(ERR)
“Meeleavaldajad kogunesid kella 18 ajal Vabaduse väljakul ning liikusid sealt edasi läbi raekoja platsi Poola saatkonnahoone juurde.”
—
Funding crisis in Estonian healthcare to arrive within five years
(ERR)
“Head of the Foresight Center Tea Danilov said that with the current funding and services, the annual deficit of the Health Insurance Fund will reach €900 million by 2035.”
On 75th Anniversary, Russians Remember The Annexation Of Kaliningrad
(RFERL)
“The Russians have no year-round ports on the Baltic Sea,” Stalin argued during the Allied conference in Tehran in 1943. “That is why we need the year-round ports of Koenigsberg and Memel (now the Lithuanian city of Klaipeda) and the surrounding territory of East Prussia.” He added a claim that “historically these are fundamentally Slavic lands.” … The Allies, eager to have Stalin’s assurance that the Soviet Union would enter the war against Japan after Germany’s defeat and ensure an end to German militarism, acceded to the dictator’s demand. The transfer was made formal at the Potsdam Conference on October 17, 1945 …”
—
“When the war ended in 1945, Koenigsberg was devastated, its historical center razed by British bombing raids and much of the rest destroyed during fighting between the Soviet Red Army and retreating German forces. … “
Hungarian Speaker of Parliament László Kövér visited Estonia
(Hungary Today)
“Kövér, who visited Tallinn at the invitation of Henn Polluaas, said during their talks that Hungary and Estonia were connected through their shared history, traditions and responsibility for future generations.”
Russia’s relations with US unlikely to change: “Already broken.”
(The Guardian)
“The Russian leader and the former vice-president certainly know each other well from past encounters, though the relationship lacks any of the warmth that Trump claims infuses his bond with the Russian leader.”
—
“I’m looking into your eyes, and I don’t think you have a soul,” Biden told Putin at a 2011 meeting, according to an account he gave the New Yorker. “He looked back at me, and he smiled, and he said: ‘We understand one another.’”
“Relations between the United States and Europe are at an historic juncture.” - Internationale Politik Quarterly
Reshuffle at the Top of the FSB Will Set the Tone for Remainder of Putin Era
(The Moscow Times)
“On Oct. 22, one of the most powerful men most people haven’t heard of was forced to retire: General Sergei Smirnov, first deputy director of the Federal Security Service (FSB). The decision on who replaces him will probably set the tone for the service’s evolution in the remaining years of the Putin era …”
“Putin's troubles.” - The Week
— Tuesday 27. October —
Vandals deface MS Estonia memorial
(ERR)
“By Tuesday afternoon the monument had been cleaned and the graffiti removed.”
Annual exercise of Estonia's Scouts Battalion kicks off in Latvia
(Baltic Times)
“Almost 500 soldiers of the Scouts Battalion and the allied battlegroup are taking part in the Teraskilp (Steel Shield) exercise that is held in the Adazi training area.”
Kaliningrad Oblast and the ‘Sanctions War’
(Jamestown Org.)
“As a physically detached exclave of the Russian Federation, Kaliningrad Oblast—sandwiched as it is between Poland and Lithuania—remains “a key region in terms of army and navy infrastructure.” In other words, in Russia’s view, Kaliningrad “has to maintain a high level of geopolitical, economic and energy security.”
MI-6 Head Warned Ukrainian President of a Russian Mole in His Office
(Window on Eurasia)
“Russian analyst Andrey Piontkovsky sees this meeting as confirmation of his warnings and those of many in Kyiv about the extent of Russian penetration at the highest levels of the Ukrainian government. He adds that his knowledge of Yermak’s code name reflects his own “insider information from Moscow, from people close to Putin’s ‘bunker.’”
— Belarus —
Lukašenko sulges Valgevene piirid Leedu, Läti, Poola ja Ukrainaga
(ERR)
“Minsk teatas koroonaviirusele viidates piirangute kehtestamisest oma kõigil välispiiridel peale Venemaa. Poola teatel lubas Valgevene riiki sisse ainult veoautosid ja Valgevene kodanikke. Sõiduautode sisenemiskeelust teatas neljapäeva õhtul ka Leedu.”
—
Lukašenka paiskas süngeid ähvardusi Valgevene meeleavaldajatele
(Postimees)
“Need, kes tulevad täna raudteele, riputavad fašistlikke lippe elektriliinidele, need, kes püüavad täna purustada, õõnestada riigi taristut, peavad teadma: tänasest eriti kodanike korterites, kuhu nad end peidavad, me vange enam ei võta,» hoiatas Lukašenka, kohtudes jõuametkondade uute juhtidega, kelle ametissenimetamisega püüab ta kuid kestnud protestide olukorras võimuhaaret tugedada.”
Five Belarusian Perspectives on Developments in That Country
By Paul Goble
“Because the anti-Lukashenka protests have continued for so long, ever more Belarusian commentators have had the opportunity to weigh in not only about the most recent moves but also about their longer-term consequences. These should not be ignored.”
“Strikes begin across Belarus after the authorities fail to fulfill the ‘People’s Ultimatum’.” - Meduza
Putin Intensifies Russian-Belarusian Military Integration
(Understanding War Org.)
“Russian President Vladimir Putin achieved a major milestone in his pressure campaign to subordinate Belarus’ military to Russia. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin adopted a common military doctrine and announced the completed formation of Russian-Belarusian “regional grouping of forces” on October 27. … Shoigu also stated Russia and Belarus are planning to create a “unified regional air defense system.)
Where's the EU when you need it?
(EU Observer)
“It has been 81 days since the first police cosh hit the first skull in Belarus and president Alexander Lukashenko has still not paid any EU price. The violence he ordered against peaceful demonstrators after rigged elections on 9. August has been spectacular.”
—
“The fact Lukashenko's administration refused to talk to the EU at any level since 9. August should have been a reality check. The fact he recently reappointed his worst monster - Viktor Sheiman, responsible for vanishing political opponents in the 1990s - to "manage the affairs of the president", should have been another one.”
— Off-Topic —
What is at stake for Europe in “the most important election. Ever”
(Voxeurop - login required)
“As the single, albeit declining, superpower, the American electorate does not only decide on national politics but also significantly influence global politics, including European politics. It is therefore important that Europeans understand what is at stake, in terms of US domestic and foreign policies.”
Under U.S. Law The Transition Is (Mostly) Safe From Trump if Biden Wins
(The Atlantic)
“… a little-known body of law and practice places important limitations on the amount of damage even a determined outgoing president can do. The law vests significant authority for managing transitions in career officials—that is, officials whose employment does not turn on or change with the occupant of the White House—who owe higher duties to the transition or incoming administration than they do to the outgoing administration.”
(General Records of the United States Government via DOCSteach)
“Opinion: Biden Can’t Repeat Gore’s 2000 Mistake and Let the Supreme Court Overrule Democracy.” - The Daily Beast
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