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Estonian Review: March 14-20, 2005
24.03.2005
TOP NEWS
FOREIGN NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
CULTURAL NEWS
TOP NEWS
Estonian Parliament passes no-confidence motion against the Justice Minister; PM follows by resigning
Mar 21 - Estonian lawmakers passed a motion of no confidence against Justice Minister Ken-Marti Vaher.
The motion was carried with 54 votes for, none against and no abstentions. Present were 86 members of the 101-strong legislature, of whom 32 did not take part in the vote.
Prime Minister Juhan Parts, then announced his own and his government's resignation after the Parliament passed a vote of no confidence against the Justice Minister.
Lang: Estonia Supports the Start of Talks with Croatia as soon as Possible
Mar 16 - Foreign Minister Rein Lang participated in the session of the European Union Foreign Ministers Council.
At the General Affairs session, the Foreign Ministers made preparations for the European Council convening next week, which will be focusing only on economic policy issues, such as the Stability and Growth Pact, sustainable development, climate changes and the Lisbon strategy, the main goals of which are competitiveness and employment.
The Foreign Ministers also discussed the financial perspective for 2007-2013. Jean Asselbom, Foreign Minister of the Luxembourg Presidency familiarised the Council with the methodology of the subsequent financial framework negotiations.
The start of accession negotiations with Croatia was thoroughly discussed. In forming their positions, the Foreign Ministers used information presented by Carla del Ponte, the General Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) stating that the Croatian Government has not been sufficiently co-operative with the ICTY. The Council decided that the start of negotiations would be delayed until the Croatian Government's full co-operation with the ICTY is confirmed.
According to Foreign Minister Rein Lang, Estonia supports the start of accession negotiations with Croatia as soon as possible. I would like to hope, that the Croatian Government will do everything in its power to fulfil its commitments to the International Criminal Tribunal, the Foreign Minister said.
The Council also approved the main principles of the accession talks, on which the negotiations will be based in the future. In Foreign Minister Rein Lang's opinion, today's decision is a good example of the 25 Member States' co-operation ability and readiness to reach a compromise.
At today's working lunch, the Foreign Ministers turned their attention to the events in Lebanon and nuclear related negotiations with Iran. In the Council Conclusions, the Foreign Ministers supported a sovereign, independent and democratic Lebanon and emphasised that the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon must be conducted pursuant to the agreed dates. The conclusions also confirmed the readiness of the EU to assist Lebanon with the parliamentary elections taking place in April and to send an observation mission.
Speaking about nuclear related negotiations with Iran, Foreign Minister Lang considered it of utmost importance that the European Union develop full co-operation with the United States and this will attest to the improvement of transatlantic relations.
During the Foreign Relations Council session, Russia, the System of Generalised Tariff Preferences, the EU Neighbourhood policy and Sudan were under discussion. Luxemburg's Foreign Minister Jean Asselbom gave an overview of talks with Russia regarding the so-called four common spaces. This was in connection with the preparations for the EU-Russian Summit meeting in May where one of the goals is to reach an agreement on the four common spaces (Common Economic Space; Common Space of Freedom, Security and Justice; Common Space of Co-operation in the Field of External Security; Common Space on Research, Education and Culture).
One of the most important issues for Estonia is the signing and ratifying of the border agreement with Russia, which falls under the Common Space of Freedom, Security and Justice. "We have not changed our positions and continue to be of the opinion that the efficiency of co-operation between the EU and Russia depends directly on the success of the so-called spaces. They must be approved as a single package," the Foreign Minister said.
Proceeding from the agreement reached at the meeting of the three Baltic Foreign Ministers in Riga, Estonia together with the Nordic Countries raised the problem of the immediate launch of the European Union's Border Monitoring Mission on the Georgian-Russian border. "The recent events in this region cause great concern especially in connection with the assassination of the democratically elected Chechen President Aslan Mashadov," Foreign Minister Lang said in his speech. "For that reason an independent border monitoring mission on the Georgian-Russian border would be necessary," he emphasised.
Estonia: support for EU stable at nearly 70 per cent in February
Mar 14 - Estonian support for European Union membership stood at 69 per cent in February, being stable at just below 70 per cent for the fourth month running.
From November 2004 onwards, support for EU membership among voting-age citizens has ranged from 67 to 69 per cent. The percentage of supporters is slightly higher among young people up to the age of 35, ethnic Estonians and people with higher income.
Sixty-two per cent of all Estonian residents aged from 15 to 74 had heard something about the European Union's constitutional treaty. The ratio of respondents saying they had heard something about it was higher among younger people, people with higher education and higher income.
Yet, only four per cent of respondents said they were generally informed about the contents of the document, 21 per cent said they knew the contents to a small degree, while 37 per cent said they had heard of the constitutional treaty, but didn't know what it was about.
FOREIGN NEWS
Time of signing Estonian-Russian border agreements still open - Lang
Mar 18 - Politicians speaking at an open-door session of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee repeated the Estonian position that the country is ready to sign the border treaty with Russia and pointed to the need to solve the problems of border area residents.
Foreign Minister Rein Lang said that although under an accord between Presidents Arnold Ruutel and Vladimir Putin, the Foreign Ministers of the two countries should sign the agreements before May 9, a time when the treaties could be signed was not yet clear.
He said signing of the border treaty could actually help solve the socio-economic problems of members of the Seto ethnic group living partially in areas that were part of the pre-war Republic of Estonia but were united with the Russian Federation after the war.
The Head of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Marko Mihkelson, said solving the problems of the Setos required serious political discussion.
ECONOMIC NEWS
Estonia's current account gap almost halved in January
Mar 16 - Estonia's current account deficit in January was an estimated 1,126 million kroons (EUR 71.95 mln), almost two times smaller than a month earlier.
The main reason for the shortfall was the goods account whose deficit decreased by 12 per cent year-on-year, totalling 1.2 billion kroons, the Bank of Estonia said.
The export of goods grew by 24 per cent and import by 16 per cent. Compared with the previous month, exports remained at the same level while imports decreased.
Foreign direct investment in Estonia totalled 0.8 billion kroons and direct investment abroad, 0.5 billion kroons.
Estonian capital receives record number of foreign visitors in 2004
Mar 17 - The number of foreign visitors to Tallinn increased sharply in 2004. The city's accommodation establishments received 957 000 foreigners representing a 31 per cent increase from 2003.
"The result is the more remarkable as the number of foreign tourists grew only by four per cent in the whole of Europe. World growth increased by 10 per cent," said the Head of the Municipal Enterprise Board's Tourism Department Evelin Tsirk.
Compared with 2003, the number of hotel guests from Finland increased the most by 115 000. The number of tourists from Sweden grew by 17 000, from Germany by 14 000 and from Italy by 12 000.
The fast growth was primarily due to increasing numbers of visiting holidaymakers, whereas the number of people travelling on business remained unchanged. Among business travellers the number of participants in conferences and fairs has increased sharply in recent years.
In a comparison of the number of tourists staying at hotels in Tallinn, Stockholm, Helsinki and Riga, Tallinn placed first. Last year hotels in the Estonian capital received 957 000 foreign visitors, compared to 899 000 in Stockholm, 767 000 in Helsinki and 620 000 in Riga.
Currency Rates in Kroons
March 20, 2005
British pound - GBP - 22.522
Canadian dollar - CAD - 9.736
Swiss franc - CHF - 10.102
Danish krone - DKK - 2.101
Japanese yen - JPY - 0.112
Latvian lat - LVL - 22.480
Lithuanian lit - LTL - 4.532
Norwegian krone - NOK - 1.922
Russian rouble - RUB - 0.425
Swedish krona - SEK - 1.719
US dollar - USD - 11.749
Euro - EUR - 15.647
CULTURAL NEWS
Exhibition of Peeter Mudist's paintings and sculptures in Helsiniki
Mar 18 -The works of Peeter Mudist are Retretti`s third winter exhibition at the Taidehalli in Helsinki from 12.3-17.4.2005. Peeter Mudist is the one of the best-known and most popular artists in Estonia. During his over 30 years of experience as an artist he has produced awe-inspiring paintings, numerous sculptures and graphic prints as well as poem books. Mudist's poems like his art in general ponder over art and life. There for he is known as an independent thinker and creator in the Estonian art scene.
Two Exhibitions of Jüri Arrak's Creation in Budapest
Mar 18 - During the spring festival in Budapest, two exhibitions of Estonian artist Jüri Arrak`s creation will be displayed in Budapest. The graphics exhibit will be open from 18.03-06.04 in the ART 9 GALLERY on Ráday u. 47, Budapest. His carpets and paintings exhibition will open from 22.03-19.04 at the Society of Arts and Crafts on Andrássy u´t 6, Budapest.
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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