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Estonian Review: 27 August - 2 September, 2008
05.09.2008
FOREIGN NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
FOREIGN NEWS
Estonia Wants Strong EU Support for Georgia
2 September - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said that in the present difficult time Georgia needs very strong political and economic support from the EU.
Speaking at the emergency EU summit in Brussels on Monday, Ansip told his fellow EU leaders, "We should send a very clear political message about our solidarity with Georgia, and say that we are in favour of closer ties with Georgia.
He said that the EU must demand that Russia abide by the six-point plan. While there is a cease-fire, Russia has not abided by its promises and pulled back its forces to the positions they held before 7 August, and dismantled the so-called checkpoints. Russian soldiers, who obviously are not peacekeepers, must be replaced with international peacekeepers, said the Estonian prime minister.
Moscow's unilateral decision to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia has to be condemned by the EU, Ansip said.
He called on fellow EU leaders to ask the foreign ministers of their governments to think about how to fill the policy of non-recognition with contents.
The Estonian premier invited the EU to take urgent steps to help Georgia, as lined out in his proposals to the EU presidency last week.
That includes immediately increasing humanitarian and financial aid for Georgia, launching talks on a visa-facilitation accord, and expressing readiness to conclude a "deepened" free trade treaty with Georgia.
Fourth, a donor conference should be held, with the final goal of helping to build up a Georgia that is twice as successful and twice as rich as before the conflict, Ansip said.
Speaking about EU-Russia relations, the prime minister said that he favours continuation of political contacts with Russia. But the relations cannot continue in the same way as they used to.
Russia has not behaved in accordance with European values, Ansip said. That's why Estonia backs the idea of freezing the dialogues that are going on with Russia at this point, including the dialogue on the new framework agreement, visa dialogue and visa facilitation agreement.
Ansip voiced support for the presidency's proposal to review the entire spectrum of Russia-EU relations.
"That work has to be done as quickly as possible," he said.
At the end of his speech the Estonian prime minister proposed to step up the EU's presence in the region, including in Ukraine, strengthen the New Neighbourhood Policy, and develop further the Swedish and Polish initiative as regards an Eastern Partnership.
Foreign Ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: European Union-Russia Relations Require Thorough Analysis
2 September - At their meeting today in Jurmala, the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania confirmed that in the light of the events in Georgia, the European Union must review the entire spectrum of its relations with Russia and pay more attention than it has previously to energy security issues.
After the emergency Council meeting, no further dialogue over a new framework agreement between the European Union and Russia will occur if Russia does not return its forces to the positions they held on 7 August, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said, in reference to the Council's decision. In the current situation, it is also not possible to continue discussing a visa facilitation regime with Russia, Foreign Minister Paet emphasised, and added that the European Union should certainly proceed with giving a visa facilitation and free trade agreement mandate to Georgia.
In addition to resolving the situation in Georgia, we in the European Union must think ahead as to how to send a stronger supportive signal to other nations in that neighbourhood, emphasised Foreign Minister Paet. He stated that to avoid a recurrence of the current events, relations with Ukraine must also be made a priority.
The goal of this afternoon's meeting of the Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian foreign ministers in Jurmala was to discuss positions prior to the Gymnich foreign ministers' meeting beginning Friday in Avignon.
Estonia Giving EUR 188,000 to Helmand Hospital in Afghanistan
31 August - The Estonian Foreign Ministry is giving 2,943,213 kroons (EUR 188,000) to Bost Hospital, the central hospital of Helmand province in Afghanistan, for the acquisition of medical supplies.
The sum was allocated from the Foreign Ministry's budget for development and humanitarian aid.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. In order for its development to be a success, intense co-operation is urgently needed in the area of medicine, along with other areas. "Supporting the central hospital of Helmand province will improve the availability of medical assistance for the residents there," said Foreign Minister Urmas Paet. The foreign minister added that it will also help to create better conditions for people living in destitution.
A large part of Afghanistan's residents live in total poverty, especially widowed women and children.
Within the framework of the project of the non-profit organisation Mondo, a medical oxygen delivery system will be obtained for the hospital, along with transportable medical oxygen tubing and medical supplies such as an autoclave, gurneys, wheelchairs, aspirators, throat masks, sterilizers, splints, crutches, and an ultrasound machine.
Bost Hospital is the largest and best hospital in Helmand province. It has 34 doctors, and 300 people receive treatment there every day, which is notably more than in previous years.
Estonia supported the paediatric ward of the Helmand central hospital in 2007 with 1.1 million kroons. The money was used to purchase portable oxygen generators and warming beds for underweight and premature infants.
At the beginning of this year, Estonia helped buy diesel for Bost Hospital's electrical generator so that hospital rooms continued to be lit and heated and medical equipment running during the winter months.
An Estonian health care expert has been working in the town of Lashkar Gah in Helmand province Since March 2008.
Estonia Comes Third in Per Capita Olympic Gold Rankings for Beijing
1 September - Estonia was the third most successful country at the Beijing Olympics when measured by the number of gold medals won per million of population, a survey by The New York Times shows.
"Following the norm of emphasising the gold medal tally over the total medal count, we can now declare Jamaica the winner; with 2.2 gold medals per million inhabitants, it bolts ahead of any other country," the article said.
In the overall medal count Jamaica came in 13th, with six golds, three silvers and two bronze medals.
"Second place is a bit more unexpected, with Rashid Ramzi's victory in the 1,500-meter race giving Bahrain both its first-ever gold medal and a per capita rate of 1.4 gold medals per million," it said.
Bahrain was 52nd in the overall medals table.
Estonia came third with 0.76 gold medals per million, closely followed by New Zealand (0.73) and Australia (0.69).
By this metric, the United States came in 33rd, and the host nation, China, came 47th.
Estonia's one gold and one silver put it in a tie in places 46-49 overall.
China topped the overall medals table and the United States was second.
WWF Recognises Estonia for Reducing Pollution of Baltic Sea
27 August - The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has commended Estonia as the Baltic Sea country which most effectively reduced maritime pollution in its recent report.
In a comparison of the nine Baltic Sea countries, Estonia has most effectively reduced the effect of harmful substances to the Baltic Sea environment, stated the WWF report released Wednesday in Stockholm.
Among the nine Baltic Sea countries, protection of the marine environment is at the highest level in Germany, followed by Denmark and Estonia.
The WWF compared the Baltic Sea countries in different spheres of the protection of the Baltic Sea marine environment, such as biodiversity, fishery, harmful substances, and maritime transport. The organisation also assessed how management of the sea has been organised in the countries.
The WWF report brought Latvia and Lithuania into a positive light for fighting illegal fishing, as both the countries recently gave environmental inspectors the right to punish those caught poaching on the spot.
Mats Abrahamsson, director of the WWF Baltic Sea region, said that protection of the Baltic Sea needs political leadership that can see above national and different sectors' interests and will approach the solution of problems in wider terms than it has been done previously.
DEFENCE NEWS
More Subjects Taught in Estonian at Estonia's Russian Schools
1 September - At least two subjects must be taught in the country's official language in high school grades starting from this year, according to the programme to introduce partial tuition in Estonian in Russian secondary schools in Estonia.
The subjects are Estonian literature, which became mandatory during the 2007/2008 academic year, and either music or civic studies.
Of Russian secondary schools, 79 percent conduct music classes in Estonian in addition to Estonian literature classes, whereas 48 percent of schools have switched to Estonian in civic studies.
Seventeen schools, or 27 percent of Russian secondary schools, teach both subjects in Estonian in senior grades.
Of all Russian language upper secondary schools, 66 percent intend to teach more subjects than the mandatory two subjects in Estonian this academic year.
Teachers of Estonian literature, history, music and geography have been offered necessary training and the corresponding syllabi have been drawn up.
In the 2008/2009 academic year, the main target group in training will be teachers of physical education and arts.
Under the programme, all Russian secondary schools must provide teaching in Estonian in at least 60 percent of the minimum mandatory syllabus from the 10th grade onwards starting from the academic year 2011/2012. The transition started in 2007.
The main goal of the programme is to make graduates of Russian schools more competitive both in universities and on the job market.
The number of pupils at Russian secondary schools in Estonia in the past academic year was 30,626 and they made up 19.7 percent of the overall number of pupils. There are 69 Russian secondary and 27 mixed Estonian and Russian secondary schools in Estonia.
DOMESTIC NEWS
Estonia Appoints Defence Attaché to Georgia
1 September - Lt. Col. Risto Lumi started work as Estonia's defence attaché in Georgia last week. He is the former chief of the intelligence department of the Estonian armed forces' General Staff.
Estonia has had a defence adviser in Georgia in the past.
Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said that supporting Georgia has been a long-time priority for the Ministry of Defence. That it was necessary to have a defence attaché in Georgia was known already a long time ago, he said. The minister also stated that he was glad that Estonia will be represented in Georgia by such an experienced and well-educated officer as Lt. Col. Lumi.
Lumi, born in 1971, was trained at the Finnish National Defence University and holds the degree of master of military sciences. He served as chief of the General Staff's intelligence department starting from 2006.
Estonia currently has 10 defence attachés, whose appointments cover Latvia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Denmark, Norway, Britain, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania.
Estonian Units Resume Service in Afghanistan After Holiday
2 September - Estonian units returned to southern Afghanistan after a ten-day holiday. Members of the Estonian infantry company ESTCOY-6 and the logistical support element NSE-5 ended their holiday late last week and now continue their service in Helmand province.
The aim of ESTCOY-6 is to dominate in its designated area around Now Zad and demonstrate the presence of international peace enforcement forces. The unit's assignment is to inhibit operations by Taliban insurgents who use the Now Zad area for north-south transit to Sangin Valley and to Musa Qala in the east.
The Estonian defence forces have taken part in the NATO-led ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) operation in Afghanistan since March 2003, including infantry personnel since May 2006.
Some 140 Estonian personnel are deployed in Afghanistan on what is the largest operation abroad for the Estonian military. Three Estonian servicemen have died and nearly 30 have sustained injuries while on the mission.
The ISAF brings together troops from 40 countries.
NATO General Reassures Baltics of Protection
2 September - Gen. Egon Ramms said that NATO will definitely come to Estonia's aid in the event of a military conflict.
The commander of the Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, speaking at a joint press conference with Estonia's armed forces' commander Lt. Gen. Ants Laaneots, said that NATO does have a plan for how to act in the Baltic countries should the implementation of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty become necessary.
Ramms said that in no way does NATO treat the Baltic countries as any different from other alliance members. "Take my visit as a good sign of it that NATO cares for the Baltic states," he said.
The NATO Response Force (NRF) will definitely be deployed to defend Estonia in the event of a military conflict, he said, but didn't say exactly how much time it would take. "They won't be here tomorrow, but they will be here sooner than in a few months," Ramms said, rejecting claims by some military analysts that Estonia would have to wait for months for aid to come.
Laaneots specified that the official response time for NRF is seven days. The media should not consistently raise this as an issue, by doing it they're making everybody nervous," Laaneots said.
Gen. Ramms praised the Estonian personnel serving in Afghanistan and thanked them for the contribution they make to stabilising Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
The aim of the visit by the commanding officer is to get familiar with the development plans of the Estonian defence forces in NATO, with the Amari air base and the Co-operative Centre of Excellence in Cyber Defence.
The general met with Estonia's Minister of Defence Jaak Aaviskoo and had talks with Lt. Gen. Ants Laaneots.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Currency Rates in Kroons
(Bank of Estonia)
New Ships Increase Passenger Numbers via Port of Tallinn
2 September - The new ships put into service by Tallink and Viking Line have significantly increased the number of passengers passing through the Port of Tallinn.
Sirle Arro, cruise and passenger ship client administrator at the Port of Tallinn, said that the number of passengers on board regular ships had certainly increased thanks to new ships put into service.
"As we know, Tallink put into service the Superstar and the Baltic Princess and Viking Line the Viking XPRS; the Tallink Star started the process the year before," Arro said.
Arro stated that the shipping lines' marketing activity had become more aggressive and the interest of people was increasing.
"Thanks to strengthened competition and marketing activity, the shipping lines have kept the ticket prices relatively low and attractive campaigns are constantly made in order to attract people to travel," Arro added. Arro said that also Estonia's accession to the Schengen visa space had swelled the number of passengers.
The number of passengers served by the Port of Tallinn increased by 14.3 percent by the end of August, totalling 5,161 million.
In the period from January to the end of August 4,245 thousand passengers, 13.4 percent more than the year before, travelled between Tallinn and Helsinki. The number of passengers on the Stockholm line grew by 15.9 percent to 552,800.
In addition, the port received 336,700 cruise passengers, 31.7 percent more than in the same period last year.
Hansapank Leading Bank on Loan and Deposits Market
2 September - A comparison of Estonian banks' half year balance sheets shows that Hansapank is twice as big on both the loans and deposits market as SEB.
According to an interim report presented to the Bank of Estonia, the sum total of Hansapank's loans and other such claims totalled 121.6 billion (EUR 7.77 b) and that of SEB 64.2 billion kroons.
The sum total of the loans issued by banks registered in Estonia and of branches of foreign banks stood at 264.1 billion kroons, according to the Bank of Estonia. As a result, the market share of Hansabank was 46 percent and of SEB 24 percent.
In terms of loans, Sampo Bank, operating as a branch of Danske Bank, and Nordea Eesti, which also operates as a branch, follow the two biggest banks.
The Bank of Estonia will not publish the interim reports, but their results are contained in commercial banks' consolidated balance sheet.
Nordea said that their loan portfolio totalled 34.5 billion kroons as of the end of June. At the same time, the loan portfolio of Sampo was slightly more than 32 billion kroons. Thus, the market share of the four biggest banks is about 95 percent of the loan market.
The sum total of the banks' deposits as of the end of June was 146.9 billion kroons. Hansapank has said that its deposits total 78.2 billion kroons, as a result it controls more than half the market.
According to an SEB interim report, that bank had 35.1 billion kroons of deposits as of the end of the year and thus its market share was nearly one fourth.
In terms of deposits, Sampo is clearly ahead of Nordea. The former said its sum total of deposits was 15.8 billion kroons as of the end of June and the latter 8.1 billion kroons.
Also in terms of total assets, Hansabank was nearly twice bigger than SEB and it controls about half of the banks' total assets of 334 billion kroons.
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