EU political leaders sent Obama a letter

An Open Letter to the Obama Administration from Central and Eastern Europe
by Valdas Adamkus, Martin Butora, Emil Constantinescu, Pavol Demes, Lubos Dobrovsky, Matyas Eorsi, Istvan Gyarmati, Vaclav Havel, Rastislav Kacer, Sandra Kalniete, Karel Schwarzenberg, Michal Kovac, Ivan Krastev, Aleksander Kwasniewski, Mart Laar, Kadri Liik, Janos Martonyi. Janusz Onyszkiewicz, Adam Rotfeld, Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Alexandr Vondra, Lech [...]

PM: Social Democrats to go out of the ruling coalition

Estonian PM Andrus Ansip will ask the president either today or tomorrow to dismiss all Social Democrat members of the Cabinet. 
According to postimees.ee, Ansip announced his decision today after submitting the budget cut to the Riigikogu, the Estonian parliament.
However, Ansip added that the replacement of Social Democrats with People’s Union in the three-party coalition was [...]

PM has mounted record tax burden

The PM Andrus Ansip has directed Estonia to last decade’s greatest tax burden before the government will meet today or in the future to discuss tax increases and new taxes, Äripäev reports.

“Fridays tax-free” the tax collector promises in Reform Party’s election campaign and gives taxpayer back his piggy and pants. Couple of years later the [...]

More subjects taught in Estonian at Estonia’s Russian schools

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 [...]

Military experts: do not rule out Russian aggression against Estonia

Postimees asked military experts about the likelihood of Estonia becoming a military target of Russia and what it may require from Estonia.

One of Estonia’s biggest military experts Leo Kunnas said that the Russian military aggression against Estonia can never be ruled out.
“Russia’s military doctrine contains provisions which enable our neighbour to consider Estonia as its [...]

Tax cuts threaten to tear up the ruling coalition

The issue of whether to freeze the planned tax cuts could break up the ruling coalition of Reform Party, IRL and Social Democrats. Äripäev writes that although Prime Minister and the main advocate of tax cuts Andrus Ansip (Reform Party) claims that the idea of proposing to freeze the planned tax cuts is buried, Finance [...]

Estonian President’s New Year Address

Dear people of Estonia home and abroad!
Here, in the hall of the Bank of Estonia, the first Government of the Republic of Estonia set to work on 24 February 1918. We have, therefore, been building our country for nearly 90 years. And when building was impossible, we held on to it. In our hearts and [...]

Curd snack advertisement deemed political

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Nov 30, 2005
More than a month after municipal elections, the National Electoral Committee has adopted a resolution that the green curd snack advertisement that had been plastered across the country did resemble the logo of the ruling Center Party and should therefore be regarded as an outdoor political advertisement.
However, the [...]

Lawmaker lays out obstacles for Center Party

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 26, 2005
Official confirmation of the Tallinn municipal poll has been postponed due to MP Igor Grazin’s legal protest, putting off a decision on who will become the capital’s new mayor.
Grazin (above), who had been a candidate for the City Council as a member of the Reform Party, originally wanted [...]

Center Party takes Tallinn, Narva; Savisaar set to occupy mayor’s

The Baltic Times, TALLINN
By Kairi Kurm
Oct 19, 2005
Estonia made a small contribution to the history of electoral democracy last weekend as thousands were allowed to cast their vote from home, the first instance of online voting, while the poll itself propelled Edgar Savisaar and his Center Party back to power in the Estonian capital.
The left-of-center [...]