BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

3 fishermen found dead off Estonia's south west coast

TALLINN - Estonian news agency BNS says three fishermen have been found drowned near their capsized boat off the southwestern coast of Estonia.
The agency says border guards found the men and their boat between the islands of Abruka and Vahase late Saturday.
BNS says the guards started searching for the fishermen after they failed to arrive at their destination at the island of Osel.

The cause of the accident was unknown.

Estonian inflation jumps to 10-year high in April

TALLINN - Consumer price inflation jumped to a 10-year high in April of 11.4 %, the national statistics office said on Thursday.

Compared with March, prices in the Baltic state increased 1.0 percent, it said.

Inflation in April was driven primarily by increases in costs of food, notably dairy, cereal and meat products, as well as heating energy and transport.

Estonia, which regained its independence from the crumbling Soviet Union in 1991, has enjoyed robust economic growth for more than a decade, notably since joining the European Union in 2004.

But inflation has been climbing progressively in recent months, despite a slight dip in pace in March.

In December, the 12-month rate was 9.6 percent, in January 11 percent, in February 11.3 percent and in March 10.9 percent.

The latest figures are the highest recorded since April 1998, when 12-month inflation was 12.6 percent, according to statistics office data.

tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomsonreuters.com

Hungary and Poland to adopt Euro in 2013 !

By Elizabeth Konstantinova

Euro-adoption targets for most central and eastern European nations have been pushed back as far as 2013 and 2014 because of accelerating inflation, said UniCredit Group SpA, Italy's largest bank.

Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic, which joined the European Union in 2004 will be able to adopt the single currency by 2013, UniCredit said in an e-mailed statement today. Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the 27-nation bloc in 2007, will meet terms for euro adoption by 2014, the bank forecast.

"The prospect of euro adoption is an important anchor for most countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007,'' Unicredit said. "Meeting the inflation criterion poses a special challenge, because of the price pressure observed almost all over central and eastern Europe.''

Estonia mulls buying 122mm artillery from Finland

Estonian daily Eesti Päevaleht reported Monday that the country's military was considering buying Soviet-made 122mm gun-howitzers from Finland.

Earlier this year, Finland offered the towed artillery pieces to Estonia for a keen price.

Baltic News Service (BNS) quoted the Estonian defence ministry as saying that the procurement was meant specifically for the purchase of the howitzers from Finland and excluded offers from Nato countries.

"It is about money. Of course every member of the artillery forces dreams of modern self-propelled devices, but Estonia's limited resources do not allow to buy them. Even the modern and light 105mm units are very expensive," BNS quoted an unnamed spokesman as saying.

The guns in question were built for East Germany in the 1960s and 1970s and later sold to Finland.

The remains of Prime Minister Jüri Uluots to arrive in Estonia

Stenbock House – Today at 10, the remains of the former Prime Minister acting as President of the Republic, Jüri Uluots (1890-1945), and his family will arrive in Estonia.

At the D-terminal of the Port of Tallinn, a military honours ceremony will be held, which will be attended by the relatives of J. Uluots, representatives of the Estonian state and members of the fraternity Rotalia. The keeper of the consistency of the Republic of Estonia will arrive back home.

President Konstantin Päts appointed Jüri Uluots as Prime Minister in 1939. In relation to the deportation of President Päts, Uluots as the last official Prime Minister became acting head of the state – Prime Minister acting as President of the Republic. In September 1944, he assigned the Government of the Republic to office, led by Otto Tief. On 19 September 1944, J. Uluots escaped to Sweden with his family, where he died on 9 January 1945. The Government of the Republic operated in exile until 7 October 1992 and was one of the main pillars that allowed to restore the independence of Estonia, relying on legal continuity.

The remains of Jüri Uluots, his wife Anette (d. 1995) and son Erik (d. 2006) will be reburied to Kirbla cemetery in Lääne County on 31 August. The remains were exhumed on Monday, 12 May, at Stockholm Forest Cemetery. The consul of the Republic of Estonia, the representative of the State Chancellery and the representative of the Estonian community in Sweden were present at the exhumation. The event was documented on video and photos for the National Archives.

Up to now, the Estonian heads of state who have been reburied into the homeland soil from abroad are Konstantin Päts (1990), Aleksander Warma (2002) and August Rei (2006).

See more about Jüri Uluots at the website of the President of the Republic :
http://www.president.ee/en/estonia/heads.php?gid=81975

Valitsuse kommunikatsioonibüroo briifinguruum
http://www.valitsus.ee/brf/
press@riik.ee

Estonia hopes for early EU-Russia talks on new ties pact

Estonia and Latvia on Monday expressed hopes for early talks between the European Union and Russia on signing a new partnership accord, according to Baltic News Service (BNS) reports reaching here from Tallinn.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet told BNS that he hopes the EU and Russia will launch their planned talks on forging a new strategic "Partnership and Cooperation Agreement" as soon as possible, and suggested that the talks be initiated during the EU-Russia summit in Siberia from June 26-27.

Referring to fellow EU member Lithuania's objections over the issue, Paet said all problems should be addressed via talks, while acknowledging that the negotiations will not be easy.

Paet's Latvian counterpart Maris Riekstins echoed his view, saying that direct talks were the best solution to problems blocking EU-Russia relations.

While saying that Lithuania's objections and demands are crucial to the 27 EU states, Riekstins expressed hope the bloc will find a way to allay Lithuania's doubts on the matter.

Source : Xinhua

Pro-Russian parties unite in Estonia

TALLINN - The Russian Constitutional Party of Estonia   and  the  Left-wing  Party  of  Estonia  signed  a  treaty  of association on Monday.

     Sergei  Jurgens,  chairman  of  the Russian Constitutional Party of Estonia, said the new party will be called the United Left-Wing Party of Estonia.

     "After  the treaty is signed, it will be approved at the congresses of both  political organizations and at the association congress on June 28," Jurgens said.

     Among the objectives of the new party will be the protection of the rights of  ethnic  minorities and representation of the interests of the Russian-speaking population.

     "Because  the  Left-wing  Party  of  Estonia is a co-founder of the European  Left-wing  Party, all documents were developed with regard for the program of the European Left-wing Party," Jurgens said.

     "The United Left-wing Party intends to expand its representation of the local self-government bodies in the municipal elections scheduled to take place next year," Jurgens said.

     The Constitutional Party of Estonia (formerly United People's party of Estonia)  was  represented in the parliament before the most recently parliamentary elections, but failed to make the 5% barrier, getting just a little  more  than  11%  of  the  votes. The Left-wing Party, which is composed of mainly Estonian-speaking people, received 0.1% of the votes.

Newspaper’s founder recalls the early days

The St. Petersburg Times celebrates its 15th anniversary this year. Lloyd Donaldson was one of the founders of The St. Petersburg Press, which was later renamed The St. Petersburg Times. Here he writes about the early days of the newspaper.

Incidents and memorable moments were never far apart for the journalists who staffed The St. Petersburg Times in its early days. The mafia sometimes visited, businessmen threatened to sue, officials occasionally pressured us — none were humored. Everything was new, things were changing fast, and our initially inexperienced journalists rode the hurricane of events with relish.

The first journalist taken on was Alistair Crighton from Scotland. At one point he disappeared for three days — to my annoyance, given our looming deadline. He emerged, unshaven and stinking of drink, having nailed the rumors of bandits fleecing alcoholics of the ownership deeds to their apartments through a combination of vodka and violence — complete with first-hand quotes and photos of the armed gang he spent those days with. He later worked with The Times of London and now edits a magazine in Dubai.

The second man on, Yevgeny Pogorelov, reported on an American whom the traffice police (GAI) had shot at 17 times in a high-speed chase, but initially followed the GAI line that this was because the man had run a red light! These were the early days — training was a work in progress. Yevgeny carved out a career in PR in Brussels.

The land of the free gives way to a nation of crushing uniformity

Leonard Pitts Jr.

I'd like to think it was the sangria talking.

But the plain truth is, when Anna said she doesn't find this country to be especially free, it was Anna talking. Granted, her complaint is hardly new. People often grouse about the lack of freedom in the land of the free.

But you see, Anna - a friend's fiancee - is from Estonia, a former republic of the old Soviet Union. As in the Evil Empire, world's leading exporter of communism. So when Anna says she feels less free in the United States, where she now lives, than in the once-totalitarian regime where she was born, well ... it gets your attention. And when she says Americans sometimes remind her of the gray, fatalistic men and women who shuffled along under communism, unwilling to think too deeply, say too much or laugh too loudly for fear of offending the State, it is striking, to say the least.

Americans, she said, love to trumpet their freedom. But it's hard to square that with political correctness that straitjackets communication for fear of giving unintended offense, hair-trigger litigiousness that requires major corporations to treat customers ("Caution : Coffee is hot") like idiots for fear of being sued, zero-tolerance policies and mandatory sentencing guidelines that remove human judgment from human encounters for fear of rendering unequal justice.

Kreisiraadio entertain with first rehearsal

Estonian group Kreisiraadio entertained the audience with their first rehearsal of Leto Svet, the song they are competing with in the First Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Following a successful rehearsal the team gave their first press conference.

Kreisiraadio (Crazy Radio) are a three man team who have been established for 15 years. The team comprises of Hannes Võrno a fashion designer originally, Peeter Oja who has his background in porfessional acting and Tarmo Leinatamm who is a famous conductor in Estonia. They started their careers on late night radio, this proved very successful and led to television work. After this they worked together with the national symphonic orchestra and now find themselves at the Eurovision Song Contest. When asked what they had planned next, Peeter replied "Maybe next we will try for the Olympic Games !"

There were only minor changes to the stage performance of the song, most aspects are the same as the winning performance in the Estonian national selection. One lead singer Tarmo was absent today due to other commitments but will join the team later to complete the line up. For today press officer Toomas Luhats stood in as the third member of Kreisiraadio !