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Estonian Review: June 13-19, 2005
22.06.2005
TOP NEWS
FOREIGN NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
TOP NEWS
Estonian President, Chairman of the Riigikogu and Prime Minister remember the victims of terror at Day of Mourning
Jun 14 - Estonian President Arnold Rüütel, Chairman of the Riigikogu Ene Ergma and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip expressed homage to the victims of totalitarian violence in a joint statement.
"We remember our countrymen who were taken from their homes and found violent deaths as well as all other victims of foreign regimes. Direct and indirect repressions by occupation regimes have hurt all Estonian families even decades after the end of World War Two. They have hurt the entire Republic of Estonia," the joint statement reads.
Rüütel, Ergma and Ansip expressed honour to the fighters for Estonia's freedom. "We honour those who took up arms and fought in the woods. We honour those who passed on the message of freedom written between the lines, and all those co-citizens who were hopefully open to these messages during the decades," the statement goes on to say.
"To those who carried Estonia in their hearts, either in prison camps in Siberia, in literal or spiritual exile, at home or abroad, we are indebted to the Singing Revolution and the restoration of national independence. This is our gratitude to the Estonian people, who never broke," the President, the Chairman of the Riigikogu and the Prime Minster said in their address.
Estonia will go ahead with ratification of EU charter - PM
Jun 17 - Although member states of the European Union decided at Thursday's summit to take time out over the Constitutional Treaty, the Estonian Prime Minister reaffirmed that Estonia will carry on the process of its ratification.
"The Government has handed the text of the Constitutional Treaty to Parliament and the Parliament will start debating it," Andrus Ansip told reporters at a news conference in Brussels Thursday night.
Ansip said the Heads of Government of EU member states agreed when talking about the ratification process that the Constitutional Treaty is fine and there is no need to renegotiate it. There is also no need to start drafting a new treaty.
"Ten countries have endorsed the treaty and that is sufficient evidence that the text is fine," Ansip observed.
According to Ansip, the time of reflection should mean that the deadline of ratification of the Constitution should be extended by at least a year. Member states should gather again next June and discuss future prospects of ratification, he explained.
"No one can dictate to member states the course and time of ratification of the treaty. Those timetables must be for each state to decide on its own," the Prime Minister said. According to Ansip, even proposals for further ratification to take place on one and the same day across the EU were made.
Ansip said EU Prime Ministers put the emphasis on the need for reconciliation between the citizens of member states and the EU. "But I'm quite convinced that Estonians are not at odds with the European Union," he said.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet noted that while before the French referendum public support for the EU Constitution in Estonia was 53 per cent then after the referendum it dropped to 27 per cent. Referendums in other countries that planned to endorse the treaty later would also fail if they took place in the light of the French and Dutch outcomes, he said.
Estonia to continue defending its interests at EU budget talks
Jun 18 - Estonia will continue defending its interests at budget talks of the European Union during the British Presidency.
At the meeting of EU Heads of State and Government in Brussels most member states were keen to arrive at an agreement, but differences arose over to what extent and how to finance various fields.
Estonia and several other countries find that support for research, education and innovation needs to be increased in order to raise the union's competitiveness.
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said Estonia would continue actively defending its interests. "Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have so far worked in close co-operation, a good example of this is consideration of each country's individual economic growth in setting the aid volumes. This is an essential outcome which we'll stick to in times to come," the premier said.
Ansip said he hopes EU member states will in further negotiations continue displaying solidarity to help the less-developed regions make faster progress.
FOREIGN NEWS
Paet: The sending of European Union Special Representatives to Central Asia and Iraq is necessary
Jun 13 - Foreign Minister Urmas Paet participated in the European Union Foreign Ministers Council in Luxembourg.
The Foreign Ministers approved several final conclusions, including a conclusion on Croatia, based on information obtained from yesterday's meeting of the Task Force for Croatia and Carla Del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in the Hague. According to EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, the willingness of Croatia's Government to co-operate with the International Tribunal is noticeable, but three or four months will be necessary to evaluate whether those efforts have produced any results. In the final conclusions, the Foreign Ministers confirmed that Croatia's progress will be treated again at the Foreign Ministers Council in July.
According to Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, Estonia supports the prompt start of accession talks with Croatia. "A clear accession perspective for Croatia is the best motivation for continuing co-operation and reforms. If we drag on for too long, the perspective may become vague and weaken Croatia's ties with the European Union," Paet said.
At the external relations session, the Ministers exchanged ideas on Cuba, the Western Balkans, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Transatlantic relations and on preparations for the UN Summit due to take place in September. The decision of the Council to send a European Union Special Representative to Iraq as well as to Central Asia obtained wide support.
"Viewing the latest events in Central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan it is clear that the presence of the European Union in that region is important to obtain adequate information about what is going on and to contribute to the stabilisation of the situation," Paet acknowledged.
According to the Foreign Minister, Estonia also supports the appointment of the Special Representative to Iraq. "The European Union's experience so far has demonstrated that the presence of a Special Representative gives good results and helps to express the European Union's common message. In Iraq, the Representative together with an EU team will be able to support the political and economic restoration of the country, at the same time making a major contribution to Transatlantic Co-operation on the part of the European Union," the Foreign Minister said.
Estonian President meets with Ukrainian leaders
Jun 17 - Estonian President Arnold Rüütel, attending a World Economic Forum-organised roundtable meeting in Kiev, gave Ukrainian leaders an overview of the reforms carried out in Estonia.
Rüütel's meetings with Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko passed in a warm and businesslike atmosphere and the Ukrainian leaders showed a lively interest in the Baltic state's reform experience, the President's office reports.
The President spoke about monetary reform, the privatisation process, the reform of the taxation system and preparations for joining the European Union, including the harmonisation of legislation. Special attention was paid to land reform, which is only in its initial phase in Ukraine as land can be privatised but not purchased.
In Rüütel's meeting with Yushchenko, Estonia's experience of using modern information and communication technology, in particular in the fields of e-governance and electronic banking, was discussed in greater detail.
Rüütel and Lytvyn spoke about the political reforms underway in Ukraine, among them the altering of the President and Prime Minister's areas of responsibility, and ways to forge closer ties between the two countries.
At the working lunch with Tymoshenko, the creation of the necessary preconditions for the development of enterprise in Estonia and Ukraine was discussed. The CEO of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Toomas Luman, gave an overview of the current situation of the Estonian economy and enterprise environment.
Number of supporters of EU Constitutional Treaty drops steeply in Estonia
Jun 14 - After the rejection of the EU Constitutional Treaty in the French and Dutch referendums the percentage of Estonians backing the treaty has fallen steeply and now just over a quarter of residents are in favour, a survey by BNS/Faktum shows.
In a previous survey conducted in May, those in favour of the Constitutional Treaty made up 53 per cent of respondents and one-tenth of respondents were against.
In the June poll that followed the rejection of the treaty by the French and the Dutch, just over a quarter (27 per cent) were in favour while 34 per cent were opposed to it.
Indifferent respondents and those who couldn't state their view made up about 40 percent of all answers in both May and June.
"Above all it refers to the circumstance that there is no established public opinion on the issue and so any information the public receives may significantly change opinions," sociologist Juhan Kivirahk said.
He said the Constitutional Treaty had been long seen as a settled matter to which the people had given their support already in the referendum of accession to the EU.
Estonia and Greece sign major co-operation agreement
Jun 15 - Estonian Culture Minister Raivo Palmaru and Greek Ambassador Christos Karapanos signed a major co-operation agreement relating to the cultural and education sphere in Tallinn.
Among other things, the co-operation agreement for the years 2005-07 covers the exchange of students, teachers and lecturers, librarians, publishers, writers and translators as well as ethnologists, archaeologists and restorers.
If most of the exchanges of specialists will apply to one or two people for up to a week, then students of both countries will be offered scholarships for degree studies for up to ten months and one to two scholarships for summer language and cultural courses.
The parties will also further co-operation in the framework of European Union programmes and support the promotion of the other country's language, history and culture.
The agreement will also support co-operation between the two countries' libraries, film archives, theatres, dance, art, music, radio and television organisations, mutual publication of literary works, exchange of exhibitions, publications and television programmes and festival visits.
The parties will reciprocally organise a film week in the other country and begin co-operation in the sphere of sports and youth activity.
Estonian School for Diplomats to train Ukrainian, Moldovan and Georgian diplomats
Jun 15 - Seven young diplomats from Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova will start studying in the international group of the Estonian School of Diplomacy (EDK) as of September.
Classes of the international group are carried out in English and fall into three modules: international relations, European studies and diplomacy.
EDK Direktor Ekke Nõmm said that the group would include five diplomats from Ukraine, one from Moldova and one from Georgia.
The studies of the seven young East-European diplomats will be financed by the Estonian and the Swedish Foreign Ministries.
Estonia and Djibouti established diplomatic relations
Jun 16 - Estonian Ambassador in Brussels Malle Talvet and Djiboutian Ambassador Mohamed Moussa Chehem signed a Joint Communiqué establishing diplomatic relations between the Republic of Estonia and the Republic of Djibouti at the Estonian Embassy in Brussels.
Djibouti has not recognised the Republic of Estonia by a separate act, but the reciprocal recognising of the countries took place with the Republic of Estonia becoming a member of the UN on 17 September 1991. Djibouti has been a member of the UN since 20 September 1977.
DEFENCE NEWS
Estonia to increase participation in Afghanistan mission
Jun 17 - Estonia is going to send eight more troops to Afghanistan this summer and increase its mission contingent by the end of the year to the 25 men allowed by the Parliament.
Defence Minister Jaak Jõerüüt and Britain's Ambassador Nigel Haywood signed a memorandum of understanding that allows Estonia to join the British-led Mazar-I-Sharif provincial reconstruction team.
"Estonia intends to stay in Afghanistan for a longer period of time," Jõerüüt said at a news conference. According to the Defence Minister, Estonia intends to increase its contingent in Afghanistan to 25 by the end of the year, which he says is a sufficiently large unit for the first steps. If necessary, the Parliament's permission to send more men to Afghanistan will be asked, he added.
By a resolution of the Parliament, Estonia can send up to 25 soldiers to Afghanistan. The mandate of the contingent runs until September 17, 2006.
At the end of July, two staff officers will go to Afghanistan. One of them will be serving on the staff of the reconstruction team and the other at the base of the unit providing logistic support.
The 14-strong mine clearance team serving in Kabul at present will be redeployed in the Mazar-I-Sharif region in July. In addition, the Defence Forces will send a six-member observation team to Afghanistan in August.
The Estonian Defence Forces have been participating in the NATO-led peace enforcement mission since March 2003. Currently 20 troops are in Afghanistan two of whom will return next month.
Estonian Defence Forces Commander underlines importance of European Forces co-operability
Jun 12 - Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces Vice Adm. Tarmo Kõuts, speaking at a high-ranking security forum in France, underlined the need to develop the co-operability of European Forces.
"The first line of defence against new dangers runs outside Europe," Vice Adm. Kõuts said in his report. "The new dangers are dynamic, as a result of which we should be ready to react before a real crisis situation arises. Prevention of conflict and danger can never be too early."
Kõuts said that in the context of international joint forces in it was extremely important to achieve co-operability that embraces the whole cycle of operations starting from situation planning to recovery after successful completion of the mission.
In NATO, co-operability has been in the focus of development and training for years. Co-operability or its lack will become more and more important in the formation of joint forces in the future, where not only soldiers, but also lawyers, rescuers, paramedics and many other specialists will be serving side by side.
The Vice Admiral said joint situation planning, being a preventive measure, must contribute to speedy and powerful military intervention.
This presumes the creation of targeted forces with a high level readiness and earlier appointed strategic measures and logistic support services. This in turn underlines the need of the creation and traditional use of a respective multi-national cooperation and coordination system.
"In NATO, we have tried to fill these expressions with content," the Vice Admiral said. "I believe that the time is ripe to widen this approach also to the European security and defence policy. "Changing times and new challenges require an effective military tool in both the organizations."
DOMESTIC NEWS
Estonian Parliament elects Deputy Chairmen
Jun 13 - The Estonian Parliament elected Centrist Toomas Varek as the first Deputy Chairman of the Riigikogu with fifty votes.
Taavi Veskimägi, candidate of the oppositional Res Publica, collected 28 votes and became the second Deputy Chairman.
Eighty-one members of parliament took part in the voting and three ballots were declared invalid.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Estonia's current account gap halved in April
Jun 13 - A flash estimate by the central bank puts Estonia's current account deficit in April, at 1.8 billion kroons (EUR 115 mln), at half of the 3.6 billion kroon shortfall in April 2004. In March, the deficit was 1.865 billion kroons, so the April gap was roughly the same in size.
The dynamics of the main contributor to the deficit, the trade account, was also similar, staying at 2.1 billion kroons more or less the previous month's level and declining more than two times in comparison with April 2004, the Bank of Estonia estimates.
Compared with last year's April, exports surged 37 per cent while imports decreased 5 per cent. In comparison with March, both exports and imports declined by 2-3 percent.
The surplus of the services account changed little, totalling 1.1 billion kroons. Export of services declined by 4 per cent whereas import increased by 12 per cent.
Q1 sales by Estonian hotels and restaurants up 21 per cent on year
Jun 14 - The combined net sales of accommodation and catering enterprises in Estonia totalled 996 million kroons in the first quarter of 2005, which is an increase of 172 million kroons or 20.9 per cent compared to the same period a year ago, the Statistical Office said.
Sales of accommodation services grew from 159 million kroons in the first quarter of 2004 to 200 million kroons in January-March 2005, while sales of catering services increased from 544 million to 655 million kroons.
Central bank says Estonia's economy in good shape
Jun 14 - The Bank of Estonia has said the condition of the country's economy is good at the moment, but sees the continued slump in economic activity in the Euro zone as a potential threat to the future.
Marten Ross, Vice President of the Central Bank, said at a news conference that the Estonian economy had received a good start this year: export was growing, the current account deficit was declining, employment was on the rise and domestic inflationary pressures had weakened. Also, private consumption has developed in line with expectations and saving by private individuals has improved as well. Growth in real wages lately has corresponded to the increase in productivity of labour, yet growing wages may mean a renewed increase in consumption.
The biggest dangers for the Estonian economy lie in the outside environment, as the expectations concerning recovery of economic activity in Europe have not been fulfilled. This is putting off interest rate hikes by the European Central Bank, which means that the low interest rates Estonia has been enjoying will be preserved for the next couple of years.
The Bank of Estonia expects the Estonian economy to grow 5.7 per cent this year, inflation to reach 3.4 per cent and current account gap to be 11.3 per cent.
Estonian kroon 24 per cent undervalued on Big Mac index
Jun 17 - The Estonian national currency, the kroon, is 24 per cent undervalued against the US dollar according to the latest Big Mac index.
The table of the Big Mac index published in The Economist shows the euro as being 17 per cent overvalued against the dollar. A euro costs on the average 1.22 US dollars on the currency markets. A Big Mac hamburger costs on the average 2.92 euros in the Euro Zone or 3.56 dollars, whereas in the United States it costs 3.06 dollars on average.
A Big Mac in Estonia costs the equivalent of 2.31 dollars, 24 per cent less than the average US price for the staple hamburger of McDonald's sold all over the world.
Just like the Estonian kroon, the Lithuanian litas is 24 per cent undervalued on the index. The Latvian lat is 37 per cent undervalued against the dollar.
Last year, the index showed the Estonian kroon as being undervalued by 22 per cent, Lithuanian litas by 22 per cent and Latvian lat by 31 per cent.
Currency Rates in Kroons
June 19, 2005
British pound - GBP - 23.398
Canadian dollar - CAD - 10.411
Swiss franc - CHF - 10.157
Danish krone - DKK - 2.101
Japanese yen - JPY - 0.118
Latvian lat - LVL - 22.484
Lithuanian lit - LTL - 4.531
Norwegian krone - NOK - 1.990
Russian rouble - RUB - 0.450
Swedish krona - SEK - 1.689
US dollar - USD - 12.837
Euro - EUR - 15.647
EESTI RINGVAADE is compiled from local news services, including BNS, and is issued by the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Eesti Ringvaade is also available through the Internet at http://www.vm.ee
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