BONJOUR L'ESTONIE

Estonian Pirate Party activist steals computer from Parliament

Pirate Party member, Meelis Kaldalu, having stolen a computer from the Estonian Houses of Parliament, brought his “trophy” to the editorial office and explained how he came to commit such a crime.

At the end of April, Kaldalu visited the Houses of Parliament on its open day. While there, he stumbled across the room for the Commission of Electronic Voting. He explained that the office door was open. He entered the room and attempted to log into the computer but was unsuccessful. He then decided to take the computer home with him in order to “crack it and learn the truth about electronic voting.” The concept of the electronic vote was first introduced in Estonia eight years ago. A record number of people (140,846) voted electronically in the 2011 elections.

The question as to whether Kaldalu succeeded has not been answered. The Parliament reported that the computer which was stolen by the activist was intended for visitor use. The press-service for the legislative department was unable to explain how the attacker managed to carry the computer through security.

Meanwhile, the police have already announced that Kaldalu is wanted on charges of the theft of parliamentary property. According to Postimees, guards checked several addresses connected to the activist but ultimately failed to apprehend him.

At the beginning of this year, Kaldalu was embroiled in yet another scandal, when – at the Presidential Reception of the 24th of February – he shook hands with President Ilves but ignored the outstretched hand of his wife, Evelin Ilves. Commenting on his behaviour, the activist explained that the First Lady reminded him of Marie Antoinette, “who does not feel the problems of her people.”

Ansip organizing 'Political Slaying'

In retaliation for Prime Minister Andrus Ansip's earlier comments, MEP Kristiina Ojuland has accused him of conspiring to “politically slay” her in a voting fraud scandal.

"Instead of waiting for the results of the investigating committee, Ansip has already taken the clear standpoint that I am somehow connected with the scam,” said Ojuland, who is giving a press conference today at 15:30.

"In contradiction with these claims, I am not connected to the identity theft that has emerged and I am ready to do anything for an unbiased investigation to reveal the real culprits,” the MEP said.

Ansip told journalists today that Ojuland has personally paid for the party membership dues of 39 members whose votes were hijacked in an internal voting system two weeks ago.

"Firstly, it certainly indicates to me that this whole case of using other individuals' identities in the internal election could not have come as a surprise to Kristiina Ojuland, as she is currently saying," Ansip said. "There are too many connections here to think that all this is somehow a coincidence," he said, adding that paying others' membership dues is not a crime in itself.

Ojuland has pointed out in her defense that she was one of the most successful candidates in the recent party leadership election, which would seemingly not give her reason to cheat for just a few additional votes, as suspected cases of fraudulent votes currently number only in the dozens. She has also stressed that she was not a candidate in another party election in 2011, when many of the same voters were scammed.

European Commission recommends car tax for Estonia

Estonia has again dismissed a recommendation from the European Commission that the country should introduce a car tax and/or higher excise duties on motor fuels, as an environmental incentive to improve energy efficiency.

Instead, according the Finance Ministry, the government intends to remain focused on existing measures, such as an electric car programme. When the EC recommended a vehicle tax last year, Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi told the media that the government did not want to put extra burdens on car owners, and that to do so would be "regionally painful."

The EC's recommendation was published in a document responding to Estonia's 2013 stability programme for the period 2012-17 and the country's 2013 national reform programme. It forms one of five country specific recommendations (CSRs) in relation to the EC's Europe 2020 strategy for growth and jobs.

The EC notes that Estonia has made some progress in meeting CSRs for 2012, in particular by limiting the budget deficit to 0.3 percent of GDP, but that some reforms efforts "appear insufficient." As well as introducing the tax, the EC recommends implementing the structural budget balance rule in the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, complemented by more binding expenditure targets; better-targeted labor market policies; making education and training more relevant to the labor market; and local government reform to ensure that the whole population has access to services such as child care, family support services, healthcare, education, and transport.

Ulrika Lomas

Estonian students to be fined for poor academic performance

Estonia’s new academic year will start with new laws. The good news is that free higher education has been introduced, the bad news – that it will be available only to the children of the wealthy.

Helen Põllo – the representative for the Ministry of Education – announced that, from September 2013, higher education institutions receiving funding from the state will be forbidden from charging students studying full-time in the Estonian language.

These higher education reforms require certain criteria to be fulfilled on the part of students. In order to receive free education, students must study full-time, that is, they must attend all classes. This means that there will be no opportunity to earn extra money while studying.

According to the rector of the institute “Ecomen”, Hanon Barabaner; “Free education is, of course, a good thing. But what about food and clothing? Many talented people will not be able to study. Before, they were able to stretch themselves; combining study with work, but now people who have no money will not be able to study despite the fact that education will be free.”

Switzerland places EU immigration quotas

Switzerland applied its EU immigration quotas on June 1, since immigration has reached unacceptable levels, with foreigners making up a quarter of the population.

Immigrants from Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Czech Republic will have the number of long-term residence permits capped at 2,180. In addition, the long-term residence permits for the 17 older EU states will be capped at 53,700 for 12 months. Last, immigration to Switzerland from Bulgaria and Romania is already severely restricted.

The Swiss Federal Council used the “safeguard clause” of the 1999 Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons, which allows temporary caps on work permits if the annual influx exceed. On April the Council “came to the conclusion that the safeguard clause is one of several measures which can help to make immigration more acceptable to society and compatible with its needs.” The EU High Representative Catherine Ashton had expressed her regret on the Council’s decision. “These measures disregard the great benefits that the free movement of persons brings to the citizens of both Switzerland and the EU.”

MEP Ojuland implicated in E-Voting scandal

Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has drawn a connection in the e-voting fraud scandal with MEP Kristiina Ojuland.

Ansip told Postimees after a party meeting that Ojuland has made payments from her personal bank account to compensate the party membership dues of 39 people whose identities are suspected to have been stolen. "Firstly, it certainly indicates to me that this whole case of using other individuals' identities in the internal election could not have come as a surprise to Kristiina Ojuland, as she is currently saying," Ansip said.

"There are too many connections here to think that all this is somehow a coincidence," he said, adding that paying others' membership dues is not a crime in itself.

E-Voting Scandal Expands to Võru County

Võru County has emerged as the second voting district to be wrapped up in the Reform Party's leadership election scandal, in which an insider is suspected of secretly casting e-votes on behalf of elderly party members who claim not to have voted.

Only a few cases of identity theft are suspected in Võru County, as opposed to dozens in Lääne-Viru County, ERR radio reported. As part of an internal investigation, the party has called in Taimi Samblik, a party development director, and Einar Vallbaum, the head of Lääne-Viru County, for questioning today.

York City boss captures Estonia winger Sander Puri

ESTONIAN international winger Sander Puri has agreed to join York City in a two-year deal.

Puri, who is due to gain a 50th cap for his country in Monday’s friendly against Belarus, has become Nigel Worthington’s fourth summer signing following the arrivals of Ryan Jarvis, Craig Clay and Ryan Bowman.

The move is still subject to a successful medical when the 25-year-old attacker returns from international duty following further matches against Trinidad & Tobago and Krgystan. City boss Nigel Worthington first encountered Puri when he was Northern Ireland manager and Estonia were in the same Euro 2012 qualifying group.

Estonia beat Worthington’s team 4-1 and 2-1 during that competition and the Minstermen chief also received a glowing reference on his new signing from former Northern Ireland team-mate Jimmy Nicholl, who is now in charge of Kilmarnock.

Nicholl took on Puri as a trialist last season before he went on to join fellow Scottish Premier League outfit St Mirren in March, making two appearances for the Paisley side. Having started his career in Estonia, where he was named Young Footballer of the Year in 2009, Puri has also plied his trade in Greece, Poland and Hungary and has scored goals against Lithuania and Armenia for his country.

Record number of full-length movies released in Estonia in 2012

As many as 46 full-length films were released in Estonia in 2012, of which 13 were full-length feature films and 33 full-length documentaries, Statistics Estonia said on Wednesday.

Altogether 241 films, including 195 short films, were released in Estonia during the year when Estonian film celebrated its 100th birthday. The total number of films released, however, was smaller than in 2003, when a record 261 films were released, including 240 short films. A full-length film is a film having a duration of at least 60 minutes, or 52 minutes in case of TV formats.

A total of 332 films were shown in Estonian cinemas in 2012, the biggest number for any year since Estonia regained its independence. Of the films 28 were Estonian, 134 European productions, 154 US productions, and 16 productions of other countries. The percentage of European productions and productions of other countries has increased over the past years while the share of US films has decreased. The number of Estonian films peaked in 2011 when 40 Estonian films ran in the country's cinemas in the course of the year.

The number of cinema visits in 2012 was close to 2.5 million, higher than in any other of the last 20 years. Compared to 2011, the number of cinema visits grew by more than 100 000.

The most popular films in Estonia during the year were "Ice Age 4" with 171 000 visits, "Skyfall" with 95 000 visits, and "Madagascar 3" with 88 000 visits. The most popular Estonian release, "Seenelkaik" (" Mushrooming") by Toomas Hussar, was fourth with 73 700 visits. "Eestlanna Pariisis" ("Une Estonienne a Paris") by Ilmar Raag placed 15th with 36 600 visits and "Vasaku jala reede" ("Bad Hair Friday") by Andres Kopper and Arun Tamm 21st with 33 000 visits.

Altogether Estonian films gathered nearly 250 000 visits or 10% of the total number of cinema visits during the year. The average price of a cinema ticket was 4.1 euros, unchanged from the preceding year.

No thanks, Estonia

At any given moment, 20 million people are video chatting with friends and relatives in distant lands. Skype, the ingenious software that makes this possible, was developed in Estonia, a tiny nation in northern Europe, hard on the Baltic Sea.

Ocean-going tribes, sometimes called “pagan raiders,” have lived in Estonia for thousands of years. During World War II, Estonia was invaded, first by the Soviet Union and then by Nazi Germany, before being overrun again by the Soviets at the end of the war. The country did not regain its independence until 1991.

Today, Estonians boast of having the world’s first “digital democracy” — Internet voting — and the lowest debt levels in Europe. It is said that a person can open a laptop in an Estonian forest and have faster download speeds than are available in most American living rooms.

Although Estonians revel in their newfound freedom, their society remains captive to a Stone Age energy system, one based on primitive and polluting technologies that it hopes to export to the United States. Estonia has no oil, coal or natural gas; what it does have is the world’s richest deposits of oil shale, stubborn rocks that only surrender their hydrocarbons if heated to 900 degrees.

Estonians burn oil shale in enormous power plants as if it were coal. They bake millions of tons each year in large ovens, or retorts, to produce fuel for ships. At one time, they used oil shale to power their locomotives.

Estonia referred to Court of Justice over impartiality of telecoms regulator

Estonia will have to face a trial at the Court of Justice of the European Union after the European Commission considered the country's national law doesn't guarantee the impartiality of the national telecoms regulator.

EU rules regarding telecoms say that national authorities exercising regulatory tasks cannot at the same time be involved in the ownership or control of telecoms companies, something that is not being respected in the Baltic state. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications in Estonia carries out some regulatory tasks, such as the allocation of radio frequencies and procedures for granting frequency authorisations.

But the institution also controls the state-owned company Levira, which is the largest TV and radio broadcast network operator in Estonia. Besides, the firm provides telecoms services like broadcasting and wireless broadband access.

Because these two activities cannot be exercised by the same authority, the Commission asked Estonia to comply with EU rules in June 2012. For the time being, the country has not adapted its national legislation to guarantee the impartiality of the telecoms regulator.

The European executive body explained that this situation can generate negative consequences for competition in the sector. Under the Telecoms Framework Directive, the Commission has to ensure that all Member States have independent national telecom regulators.  

If the Court rules against Estonia, the country will have to take the necessary measures to comply with the judgement. Then, if it fails to act, he Commission may open another infringement case.

Nerea Rial

Estonia drops in competitiveness index

In the freshly released World Competitiveness Scoreboard for this year, Estonia dropped five places to 36th.

The annual ranking, complied by Swiss business school IMD, takes into account the ability of nations to create and maintain an environment in which enterprises can compete, calculating economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure, the school's website says.

The United States moved from third to first place this year, replacing Hong Kong, thanks to a rebounding financial sector, technological innovation and successful companies. In Europe, the school said, austerity programs have held back recovery, with only export-oriented nations like Switzerland (second spot), Sweden (fourth) and Norway (sixth) all improving their positions.

As in other economic indicator scoreboards, Estonia comes in behind its northern neighbor Finland (20th place), and ahead of Latvia (41st) and Russia (42nd). Venezuela, Argentina and Croatia bottom out the 60-strong list.

Ambitious Finland to Estonia underwater tunnel plan resurfaces

Norway recently announced plans for the world’s first ship tunnel, and now Uusimaa County in Southern Finland has proposed an underwater tunnel in its new development plan, due to be released later this year, which would connect the country with Estonia.

The idea for a tunnel was originally suggested in 1994 to Estonia by Helsinki officials. Several potential sites for the southern entrance of such a tunnel have been discussed, with Rohuneeme on the Viimsi peninsula north of Tallinn the current preference.

In 2007, the mayors of Tallinn and Helsinki requested 800,000 euros in EU support for studying the feasibility of a potential underground railway between the two cities. The request was turned down in 2009. The new proposed tunnel would cost billions of euros to build. The plan has re-emerged alongside progress in the Rail Baltic project, Eesti Päevaleht reported.

Speaking at a transport forum last October, Helsinki Deputy Mayor Pekka Saurilsinki said that if the Rail Baltic project happened then the tunnel would be the next logical step. Estonian researchers have already carried out a Finnish-commissioned study costing tens of thousands of euros on the geological conditions of potential routes for the tunnel on the Estonian side.

The Uusimaa County government has now submitted a funding request to the EU, in the framework of the Baltic Sea strategy, for the so-called TallsinkiFix project, aiming to carry out a detailed overview of possibilities.

Doctor exodus means trouble ahead

TALLINN - Aparticularly bleak scenario heralds a fall of the number of doctors in Estonia, dropping from 4,500 to 2,500 in 20 years and currently one in seven doctors working in Estonia is of retirement age while an increasing number of medical school graduates leave Estonia after graduation, reports Postimees.

Tartu University scientists Raul-Allan Kiivet, Helle Visk and Toomas Asser write in their study on the dynamics of the number of doctors and nurses working in Estonia in 2032, that only under a utopian scenario, that is, if all the 120 graduates of doctor studies started working in Estonia immediately, and no young doctors left to go abroad, would the number of doctors not fall so drastically.

The reality is, however, that an average of 15 percent of these new doctors won’t start working in Estonia. For example, in 2011, out of the 107 doctors who graduated, just 66 started working in Estonia. 725 young doctors out of the 981 who had graduated from the department of medicine in 2002-2011 worked in Estonia in April 2012, meaning a loss of over 250 new doctors.

The truth is that not all young doctors find work in Estonia. Looking at what is needed, 4,500 doctors are sufficient for Estonia, representing three doctors per 1,000 people, which is Europe’s average. However, there are specialties where the shortage of doctors is higher than in other places. For example, a year ago, 54 family doctors left to work in Finland and 141 had taken a certificate from the Health Board to work abroad, meaning that some of them work part-time in Estonia, and part-time in Finland.

The authors of the study say that the acceptance of medical students to university has to be increased by a quarter in order to preserve the number of doctors at the current level, and the exodus of doctors from Estonia should be halved.

Estonia would like for the EU to have a common development cooperation policy

On Tuesday in Brussels, the development ministers of the EU discussed the implementation of the new development co-operation policy “Agenda for Change” and confirmed the European Union’s common approach to the UN Millennium Development Goals after the year 2015, informed LETA the Estonian Foreign Ministry.

Estonia would like for the European Union to have a common development cooperation policy that is effective and geared towards results, according to Estonia's permanent Representative to the EU Matti Maasikas, who represented Estonia at the meeting.

“One of the main updates in the new development co-operation strategy is the close co-ordination of the activities of donor countries and the joint planning of development co-operation among them. This helps the aid given in partner countries to be more effective,” he added.

Maasikas stated that Estonia's priorities coincide with the goals of the “Agenda for Change”, and our especially strong priority is good administrative practice and promoting human rights.

Estonia supported the proposal to discuss the common activities of the European Union and its member states in the Eastern Partnership countries of Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, which are also Estonia’s development co-operation priority partners, at the next meeting of development co-operation ministers in the fall.

Election fraud suspect identified : Ansip

Prime Minister Ansip said a member of his party has admitted to manipulating e-votes in the Reform Party's leadership election last week and in another election in 2011.

"The party secretary has a specific individual's explanation in written form in which the individual admits to having committed the acts at hand. And the individual has suggested that he or she did this at the request and knowing of someone else," Ansip told ERR radio, without revealing any names as the investigation is still in progress.

Ansip said 30 cases of suspicious voting have been found so far and that there is as yet no reason to believe that the fraud extended beyond the Lääne-Viru voting district. He added that if the number of fraudulent votes is only in the dozens, the results of the election will not be challenged.

It emerged yesterday that someone could have stolen e-votes from elderly Reform Party members in an internal leadership election last week as well as in 2011.

The Hara miltary base, once a Soviet camp on the Baltic Sea

An hour or so outside of Tallinn Estonia, along the coast of the Baltic Sea, lies an abandoned Soviet submarine base next to the village of Hara. The Hara Military Base was built by the Soviets between 1956 and 1958 and was used while they occupied Estonia until they fled in 1991 around the time of their independence. At that time, the only thing they left behind was a barren concrete structure, which has since been defaced by graffiti and strained from years of Baltic wind, rain and snow. Rich but worn-out textures atop a cement facade above and below the water's edge meets weathered and rusted structures, ladders, chains and latches. Among the debris are weakened rocks and wooden slats, which have fallen below an area that once appeared to be a walkway separating sections of the base.

Apparently the area we scoured was only 10 percent of what originated there during Soviet times. There was a measuring system in the sea, and the entire bay was covered with sensors, wires, locators and locators behind wires. The place has an isolated feeling to it, despite how many people you bring with you on your long walk along the concrete protrusion that extends into the ocean. Barren, forgotten, isolated, solitude and torment are the words that swept through me as I made my way into the brittle, all-encompassing wind on that cold April day.

I've always been intrigued by graffiti and have taken photos of plastered defaced walls, buildings, ceilings and floors in nearly every continent. I couldn't put my camera down as graffiti met the memory of Soviet occupation during less stellar times for Estonians who lived in the area.

Some Estonian hoteliers worry about falling demand

Estonian owners and managers of hotels pose concern on expected decrease in demand for the services, the news portal BBN said referring to Aripaev. Caterers are at risk of decreasing business as well, writes LETA.

According to the new survey by the Estonian Institute of Economic Research made, in May demand in Tallinn's restaurants was 13% lower than a year earlier. Felix Mägus, CEO and shareholder of Nordic Hotel Forum, one of the leading hotels in Tallinn, says that all signs show that in the accommodation business, summer 2013 will be weaker than summer 2012," said Mägus.

Speaking of causes for falling demand for hotel rooms, Mägus says that one of the key reasons is lack of economic confidence in Sweden and Finland, as well as problems linked to Estonian Air, and the lack of large-scale international events. Loodmaa says that the number of domestic tourists has stopped growing, but added that he also remains moderately optimistic.

Hotels in Tartu are also dependent on the number of events organised by the Tartu University and City of Tartu. Most hotel operators say that it is difficult to plan ahead because customers make last-minute decisions. As reported, the Estonian Hotels and Restaurants' Union will this year evaluate ten new hotels in the common European new grading system Hotelstars Union that was created three years ago.

Historic rock festival comes back for its 25th anniversary

TALLINN - The Rock Summer Festival, first held in Tallinn in 1988, will hold a one-off event in mid-June to celebrate a quarter of a century since its birth.
Bryan Adams, Ivo Linna, Zucchero and former Sex Pistol John Lydon are set to perform at the Rock Summer Festival. However, the head organizer Juri Makarov said that they may sign more artists, as some negotiations are still taking place.

The organizers took heat after announcing the event at the beginning of February without revealing any headliners, while still asking 50 euros for tickets. The price of a ticket to the two-day festival now costs 60 euros, but in June the price will be 90 euros.

The original three-day festival was subtitled “Glastnost Rock - Rock for Peace!” and was held during a time of increasing defiance against Soviet rule. The free event attracted 190,000 people.
Rock Summer was then repeated nearly every year for the following decade, attracting names like Iggy Pop and Shaggy to what was otherwise a backwater of the international music circuit. The last time it was held was in 1997, after which the organizers went bankrupt.

“When younger people buy a tablet computer, they do not think that you can visit 10 to 20 concerts for the same price. In respect to the older generation, the sort of festival we are organizing has not been seen in Estonia for a while,” Makarov said.

Mikser accuses Tallinn of unfair competition practices

Top Social Democrat Sven Mikser has said that Tallinn should not compete with Estonia's smaller municipalities and cities because it is not a fair fight and the result will be marginalization.

The subject was policy prescriptions ahead of local elections in October, and the program was ETV's "Foorum." Mikser said that "ping pong" between Tallinn and the state had curtailed development of the local government system and could continue to do so.

"It's not normal when Tallinn tries to compete with Estonia. We shouldn't have that. Tallinn is a part of Estonia. And Tallinn shouldn't compete with small municipalities, which is what it is doing in the case of public transport established only for Tallinners."

Tallinn's deputy mayor Arvo Sarapuu (Center Party), also a panelist, went along with it, calling on other cities and municipalities to up their game. He argued that Tallinn actually got things done.

"If a person says he has nowhere to park and the problem gets resolved, that is an accomplishment. Local governments can't be about distant pipe dreams, they have to be the instance where people come and get their problem resolved," said Sarapuu.

Estonian Air wins court battle with Bombardier

Canada’s Ontario Supreme Court has ruled in favour of Estonian Air in the airline’s dispute with Canadian aircraft manufacturer Bombardier, writes Postimees.

Estonian Air’s CEO Jan Palmer confirmed that the court case was over and that the court ruled in favour if Estonian Air. Palmer was unable to say how much the court case cost the airline.

The company has not announced the compensation amount that Bombardier had been demanding from the Estonian state and Estonian Air for cancelling its order to new aircraft. It is known that Estonian Air paid Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer around EUR 8m for cancelling its order to buy two aircraft.

Estonian Air and Bombardier made an agreement in 2011 that Estonian Air will buy five new Bombardier aircraft CRJ900. The transaction was financed by the Canadian export credit agency.

When Estonian Air cancelled the aircraft purchase agreement with Bombardier, the Canadian company claimed that the Estonian government had interfered in the decision-making process of Estonian Air and had forced the airline to cancel its agreement with Bombardier so that it could buy five Embraer aircraft.

Embraer delivered three planes to Estonian Air, but the order for two was cancelled when the state changed the strategy of Estonian Air and the airline no longer needed so many planes.

Sales manager of Bombardier, Robert Baseggio, claimed that he was informed by Estonian Air CEO Tero Taskila that Embraer was lobbying the Estonian government to buy aircraft from Embraer instead of Bombardier. The Canadian supreme court ruled that there was no evidence that the Estonian state had influenced the decision of Estonian Air.