Estonian Review 29 October - 4 November 2010

FOREIGN NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
CULTURAL NEWS

FOREIGN NEWS

Foreign Minister Paet Discusses Estonian Air Plane Purchase with Canadian Trade Minister Van Loan

4 November - Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, who is in Canada for an official visit, said in his meeting in Ottawa with Canadian International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan that Estonian Air’s purchase from the Canadian company Bombadier Aerospace is one of the most notable recent transactions in Estonia-Canada economic relations. Van Loan, who has Estonian roots, said it is good that the Estonian national airline will begin using aircraft manufactured in Canada.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet expressed support for the conclusion of a free trade agreement between the EU and Canada. “The negotiation process with Canada has progressed smoothly, and hopefully an agreement can be concluded in 2011. The EU would like to facilitate trade ties with nations that share values with the Union,” Paet stated. “An EU free trade agreement with Canada would improve competitiveness and provide new opportunities for Estonian entrepreneurs to expand their activities in Canada,” added the Estonian foreign minister. The European Union is Canada’s second most important trade partner.
Paet stated that the Estonia-Canada youth exchange agreement that came into effect on 1 August provides a good opportunity to develop co-operation between education institutions and businesses in the two countries. “The agreement offers young people opportunities to supplement their academic or vocational education, gain work experience, and become familiar with another nation’s culture and society,” stated Paet. Thanks to the agreement, students and university students can work in the host country and receive supplementary education for advancing their careers on the basis of a pre-arranged work contract.
In 2009, Canada was in 19th place in terms of total turnover among Estonia’s trade partners. Last year Estonia imported goods valuing 166 million kroons (10.6 million EUR) from Canada, and import to Canada reached 2 006 million kroons (128.2 million EUR). The large trade surplus is due to the export of mineral fuels that do not meet the European Union standards. In addition to energy sources, Estonia also sells machinery and equipment, animal products, and prepared food and drink products to Canada.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet also met with Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Peter Milliken. The foreign minister visited a session of the House of Commons as well.

Estonia Supports Activities of Civil Mission in Kosovo

2 November - The Foreign Ministry is supporting the International Civilian Office (ICO) in Kosovo with 1.5 million kroons (95 870 EUR). Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the goal of the civil mission is to monitor the implementation of Martti Ahtisaari’s plan by the government of Kosovo and co-ordinate the international community’s activities.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that in order to develop the nation, Kosovo needs to move forward with establishing the principles of rule of law, integrating Kosovo’s Serbian community, and decentralising. “The ICO has managed to do a lot in this area. For example, the civil mission has supported the creation of many Kosovan state institutions and helped to mark off the southern border of Kosovo. They have also been able to create contacts with Kosovo’s Serbian population and help decentralise the administration of Kosovo’s government,” he noted. The activity of the civil mission includes support for Kosovo’s economic development, within the framework of which co-operation has been done with the IMF. “With the help of the ICO, it is also possible to send the necessary experts to Kosovo to help with reorganising and carrying out reforms,” said Paet.
The International Civilian Office has been working in Kosovo since 2008. The ICO is led by Pieter Feith, who is also the European Union Special Representative in Kosovo. The ICO consults for the Kosovan government and community leaders and works in close co-operation with the European Union special envoy to Kosovo, the local office of the European Commission, and the EU rule of law mission (EULEX Kosovo).
Estonia has six experts participating in EULEX.

European Court of Human Rights Rules in Estonia’s Favour in Military Pensions Case

4 November - Today the European Court of Human Rights ruled in Estonia’s favour regarding the complaints of 45 retired Russian military servicemen against the Republic of Estonia, finding that Estonia had not violated any rights protected by a convention.
The applicants of the complaints alleged that they have been discriminated against and their proprietary rights—the right to a pension—had been violated. The accusers felt that if they are being paid a pension on the basis of 1994’s “Agreement between the Republic of Estonia and the Russian Federation concerning social guarantees for the military pensioners of the Russian Federation staying on the territory of the Republic of Estonia”, then they are left without a pension and they have been discriminated against, because generally it is not a condition for receiving a pension in Estonia that a person may not be receiving a pension from a foreign country as well, but the aforementioned Estonia-Russia agreement does contain this stipulation. In their complaint, the accusers based their argument on the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Protocol No. 1.
In its ruling today, the Human Rights Court found that the complaint is admissible; however, it reached the conclusion that the rights of the applicants were not violated. The court noted that a situation can only be called discrimination when equals are not treated equally. The court found that the plaintiffs were a special case bound by a special set of rules, and therefore their different treatment was justified. The court also emphasised that there is a wide margin allowed to the state when the issue at hand deals with the general measures of economic or social strategies.
The court agreed with Estonia’s explanation that in the given case one must take into consideration the particular historical context in which the 1994 agreement was signed, and also the fact that the retired military servicemen knew the conditions of receiving the Estonian pensions at the time that they decided to remain in Estonia. Therefore, the court decided that the applicants are not comparable to any other group of pensioners in Estonia and therefore the rule that is in effect regarding their pensions does not violate their rights. In the case of other complaints issued, the Human Rights Court ruled the complaints inadmissible.
Plaintiffs have the right to appeal the case within three months of the decision being made and request that it be reviewed again by the 17 judges in the Grand Chamber.

Prime Minister Ansip Meets with Uzbek President and Prime Minister

2 November - Prime Minister Andrus Ansip met with Uzbek president Islam Karimov today. Prime Minister Ansip said that the main aim of the first ever high-level visit between Estonia and Uzbekistan was to foster relations between the two countries. “We are more than willing to develop mutually beneficial relations with Uzbekistan based on an equal footing,” he explained. He added that the first thing that needs to be done is to sign off on key agreements between the countries, such as the investment protection agreement and agreement avoiding double taxation.
During the meeting President Karimov expressed his interest in Estonia’s changeover to the euro and the recent debates in the European Union about potential amendments to the Lisbon Treaty. The Uzbek president is due to visit the EU in Brussels next January.
Discussing the situation in Afghanistan, Prime Minister Ansip emphasised that Estonia is contributing to the mission for two reasons: that problems of an international nature like the drug trade and terrorism need to be dealt with at their roots; and that foreign partners have a very important role to play in building up the state in newly independent countries or countries that have regained their independence, as was the case in Estonia. The Uzbek president agreed with the Estonian prime minister that stability in Afghanistan was key to security in the Central Asian region as a whole.
Today also saw the Estonia-Uzbekistan economic forum take place, which was opened by the prime ministers of both countries. The main focus of the forum was identifying specific business opportunities. Prime Minister Ansip remarked that Uzbekistan is geographically much closer to Estonia than most people realise. “There is less distance between Tallinn and Tashkent than there is, for example, between Tallinn and Lisbon,” he said. “Distance shouldn’t be a reason for less motivation for us to work together.”
The areas of co-operation that generated most interest at the forum were a potential transit corridor from Uzbekistan to the Baltic Sea, co-operation with regard to oil shale technology, and work in the fields of IT, construction and the production of sterile equipment. A nine-member business delegation from Estonia attended the economic forum.
In his meeting with Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Prime Minister Ansip mentioned tourism, increased trade and the IT sector as potential areas of co-operation. “20 years ago people from Estonia were still visiting beautiful cities like Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara, and we ought to be restoring those ties if we can,” said Prime Minister Ansip. He also highlighted the co-operation potential that lies in the use of infrastructure, such as the opportunities that would be presented to Uzbekistan by access to the Port of Tallinn, as well as partnerships with Estonian Railways and Tallinn Airport.
Although the two nations entered into diplomatic relations 16 years ago, today’s meetings represented the first high-level visit between Estonia and Uzbekistan.

Estonia Helps Relieve War Traumas of Children in Georgia

30 October - The Foreign Ministry is supporting the counselling of children who suffer from war traumas as a result of the armed conflict in Georgia. The project is being implemented by Tallinn University, which is organising creative learning rooms for the children of the Ushapat village school in Georgia. Within the framework of the project, children will be introduced to painting, ceramics, photography, sculpture, and land art.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the goal of the project is to alleviate the situation of children following the armed conflict in Georgia and support their self-discovery through creative activities. “Education specialists emphasise that participation in artistic activities strengthens a child’s self-esteem. This is particularly important if a child has post-conflict stress,” said Paet. “Through the joint creative activities being implemented in co-operation by Tallinn University and Tbilisi University, we hope to expand the worldview of children in Georgia,” he added.
Tallinn University’s international relations department, art institute, and Baltic Film and Media School are all involved in the creative co-operation project. The project will run from the fall of this year until the spring of 2011. The project will result in a documentary film that will follow what takes place in the creative learning rooms.
The Foreign Ministry is supporting the project with nearly 430 000 kroons from the Foreign Ministry’s budget for development co-operation and humanitarian aid. Georgia is one of Estonia’s four development co-operation priority partners.

Foreign Ministry Secretary General Emphasises Importance of Creative Industries

2 November - At the meeting of the Northern Dimension foreign ministers in Oslo, Foreign Ministry Secretary General Marten Kokk emphasised that Estonia sees important co-operation potential in the Northern Dimension Cultural Partnership that is to begin soon. Kokk stressed that Estonia hopes that the Northern Dimension will develop into a vigorous and dynamic political and co-operation framework. “Two new partnerships of the Northern Dimension are about to kick off: the Transportation and Logistics Partnership and Cultural Partnership. Prioritising cultural exchange and export is one trend that will improve the competitiveness and visibility of the region,” said Kokk. “Cultural partnership gives an opportunity to develop the creative industries of the entire region. By addressing the issues of creative industries, we can help form an appropriate environment and cultural communication network that will facilitate the work of creative enterprises,” he added. He also invited his colleagues to visit the European Capital of Culture Tallinn in 2011. According to Secretary General Kokk, the Transportation and Logistics Partnership is significant for improving the transportation connections of the Baltic Sea and Barents regions. “Fixing transportation connections and using them effectively, as well as addressing the facilitation of border crossings, are important from the perspective of the entire region’s development,” he said.
The Northern Dimension is a primarily project-based EU foreign policy instrument for regional co-operation. The European Union, Norway, Iceland, and the Russian Federation all participate as equal partners. The Northern Dimension’s everyday work also includes many other co-operation partner, like for the four so-called Nordic councils— the Council of Baltic Sea States, the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Arctic Council, and the Barents Euro-Arctic Council. The Northern Dimension is also an external dimension of the Baltic Sea Region Strategy.

Estonian Ambassador to San Marino Presents Credentials

29 October - Estonia’s new Ambassador to the Republic of San Marino Merike Kokajev presented her credentials to Captains Regent of San Marino Giovanni Francesco Ugolini and Andrea Zafferani. Ambassador Merike Kokajev resides in Italy.
In the discussion that followed the presenting of credentials, Ambassador Merike Kokajev noted that relations between San Marino and Estonia are friendly and warm, and within bilateral relations both sides are interested first and foremost in strengthening economic and cultural ties. “Since San Marino has become an interesting travel destination for Estonians, another co-operation sector is tourism,” noted Ambassador Kokajev. The ambassador stated that San Marino is very active in international organisations. “Estonia is interested in co-operating with San Marino in the UN and other international organisations,” said Kokajev.
Estonia established diplomatic ties with San Marino on 9 July 2003. San Marino is the world’s oldest democracy, having had that governmental structure since 1702.
Merike Kokajev was born in Tartu in 1956 and graduated from Leningrad State University with a degree in French language and literature. Kokajev has been working for the Foreign Ministry since 1991. Ambassador Kokajev has worked in the protocol department, the embassy in Brussels, Estonia’s permanent representation in Geneva, the Foreign Ministry’s division for international organisations, and Estonia’s permanent representation to the UN. From 2005-2007 Kokajev was a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Prior to assuming her current position, Merike Kokajev worked in the Foreign Ministry’s state protocol department as the director of the division for ceremonies and visits. Since 2010, Kokajev has been the ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Republic of Italy and the Republic of Malta, residing in Italy. Ambassador Kokajev speaks English, Russian, and French.

Estonia to Repay 21-Year-Old Loan From Latvia

4 November (BNS) - The Estonian government Thursday decided to allocate more than two million kroons from its reserve in order to repay to Latvia a loan received 21 years ago.
According to an order of the government, 2 093 071 kroons will be allocated to repay a loan the Estonian Consulate General received from the Latvian Embassy in Washington in 1989.
The Estonian Consul General in New York, Ernst Jaakson, recalled that the financial situation of the Estonian diplomatic representation was poor. "The finances of the state on which we had been subsisting were running out. Survival of the representation was under a question mark," Jaakson wrote in his book, “To Estonia”, published in 1995. Jaakson said in his memoirs that he had turned to his Latvian colleague Anatol Dinbergs for help. "So we got a one-off loan of 185 00 dollars, on which we didn't have to pay any interest according to Dinbergs's promise.”
Some time ago an appeal was published in the daily Eesti Päevaleht that by the anniversary of the Latvian state Estonia could repay its debt to Latvia, which is dire straits at present. The Latvian Independence Day is on 18 November.
Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said at the government press conference on Thursday that the government decided to repay the money to Latvia as there was sufficient documentary proof of the loan. The prime minister said that it was a mistake that the loan had been overlooked such a long time. "We would have been able to repay the loan long ago. The issue arrived on the desk of the present government in a relatively unusual way - from the ambassador's memoirs it came to Eesti Päevaleht and from Eesti Päevaleht to the Finance Ministry. I have spoken with my colleague [Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis - BNS] about it and have asked him to look for documents of the period. The loan relationship has been sufficiently proven for the state to repay the 185 000 dollars," Ansip said.

DOMESTIC NEWS

Estonia Among Countries With Very High Human Development in UN Report

4 November (BNS) - In the United Nations human development report, Estonia has climbed to a place among countries with very high human development and is listed as No 34 among 169 countries.
Compared with last year Estonia's position in the UN human development report has improved, as last year Estonia was listed as No 40 at the head of countries with a high level of human development. In the report released on Thursday, Norway is in the first place like last year, followed by Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Sweden, a country with very high human development, is listed as No 9 and Finland as No 16. Lithuania and Latvia are listed as No 44 and 48 and Russia as No 65 among countries of high human development.

Development of Estonian Language to Get Six Million EUR Over Seven Years

4 November (BNS) - The Estonian government is going to allocate over six million euros for the development of the Estonian language, a sum equal to 0.1% of the Estonian state budget during seven years, the daily Eesti Päevaleht reported.
Next week Education and Research Minister Tõnis Lukas will presumably send for endorsement to the government the Estonian language development plan for the next seven years. Its compilers want to allocate 959 633 000 kroons (EUR 6.13 mln) for keeping the language current and alive.
"The main idea of the plan is to keep the Estonian language at a level that could be used also in 2050," said Jüri Valge, language policy adviser to the Ministry for Education and Research and one of the authors of the development plan, adding that Estonian is already a well-developed language. "It is now necessary to take care that young people don't switch to English and will continue to want to learn and use the language," Valge added.
A large proportion of the activities in the development plan have been projected into the sphere of education. So the development plan foresees linking the study of Estonian and other subjects, the introduction of state exams in two parts starting next year, and obligatory upgrading for teachers of Estonian. Teachers may also get the opportunity for a paid sabbatical year or half year. Concerning dialectal languages, compilers of the development plan have set the aim at increasing the volume of dialectal television and radio programmes from the present 20 minutes to 50 minutes, and find that instead of the present 7 000 people at least 8 000 people should take part in dialectal mass events every year.
The programme sets the aim of 190 million kroons allocated for linguistic research and the compilation of dictionaries and 119 million kroons for the development of language technology.

DEFENCE NEWS

Next Saber Strike Exercise to be Held in Estonia

29 October (BNS) - The Saber Strike military exercise of the three Baltic countries and the United States has ended in Latvia, with the next similar exercise to be held in Estonia. During the first week of the exercise that started on 18 October the troops gathered at the Adazi training ground in northern Latvia went through various combat routines such as conducting patrol, searches, convoy and base protection, military spokespeople in Tallinn said. In Phase Two of the exercise a multinational unit was formed to act in conditions resembling the NATO operation in Afghanistan. "Despite some minor details, the joint exercise being held for the first time was a success," said the commander of the Latvian ground forces, Col. Igors Rajevs.
The commander of the Estonian company, Capt. Kaido Kivistik, and deputy commander Lt. Jüri Pajuste said that all of the exercises conducted at Saber Strike were very similar to the operations carried out in Afghanistan. "Only the landscape and weather conditions differ," Lt. Pajuste said.
The purpose of the joint exercise of the four countries is to prepare Defence Forces personnel for missions in Afghanistan and develop co-operation between the allies' ground and air force units.
This year Saber Strike this year brought together more than 1 600 military. Taking part from Estonia was one company of the Scouts Battalion, the United States was present with soldiers from the 172nd Infantry Brigade, 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team and other US Army in Europe units, Latvia with two infantry companies, and Lithuania with one infantry company. Saber Strike is scheduled to become a regular exercise hosted in turns by each of the three Baltic countries.
The company of the Estonian Scouts Battalion that took part in the exercise is scheduled to start its tour of duty in Afghanistan next year.

Estonia to Send Rapid Reaction Unit to Greece

2 November (BNS) - Estonia will send a rapid reaction unit of 19 border guards to Greece, which is currently fighting against illegal immigration.
Sven Anderson, head of the border guard co-operation office of the Police and Border Guard Board, told BNS that Estonia would take part in the EU Frontex border operation in order to obstruct mass illegal immigration into Greece. The first border guards belonging to the rapid reaction unit are already on their way to Greece and the last members of the unit will arrive in the mission area in the second half of November.
On October 25 Greece filed a request to the EU border guard agency Frontex to dispatch rapid reaction units to Greece in order to obstruct massive illegal immigration. On the next day the director general of Frontex decided to dispatch rapid reaction units to Greece. On 27 October the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board informed the agency of its readiness to dispatch experts of the border guard area rapid reaction unit to the operation.
It is the first time for Estonia to send a rapid reaction unit to the EU border guard mission. The European Union will cover the full costs of participation in the operation.
The situation on the Greek-Turkish border is complicated, as the pressure of immigrants has been transferred from the sea to the land border, Anderson said.

ECONOMIC NEWS

GDP Grew Six Percent in Third Quarter

3 November (BNS) - The growth of Estonia's gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated to an annual rate of approximately 6% in the third quarter of 2010, according to an estimate published by the Finance Ministry on Wednesday.
"Robust growth is supported mainly by the acceleration of the growth trend of the industrial sector on the back of export. In addition, positive developments took place in the transport sector and financial sector," said Erki Lõhmuste, adviser at the ministry's macroeconomics department. In the transport sector, transit and export-import services, and financial sector, profits of commercial banks are worth mentioning, he said.
In the first quarter of this year the Estonian economy grew 2.0% and in the second quarter the rate of growth was 3.1%. Statistics Estonia is scheduled to publish its flash estimate of third-quarter GDP growth on 11 November.
Lõhmuste said in his commentary that demand of the external environment continues to be strong and this has enabled Estonia to significantly boost export volumes. In the third quarter the pre-crisis level was achieved in exports. "Even though import is showing solid growth figures too, because of weak internal demand its level remains far behind the level of the period of rapid growth," he said.
The contribution of private consumption in the third quarter may be slightly positive despite the accelerating price growth, largely thanks to the strengthening of car sales that started in spring. The decline in investments could have stopped and the contribution of inventories should be solidly positive just like in the second quarter, the adviser added.

State Budget 84.7 Percent Full After Ten Months

4 November (BNS) - Tax revenue worth 52.3 billion kroons (EUR 3.34 b) was paid into the Estonian state budget in the period from January to October, 84.7% of the amount projected for the full year.
Receipts in October totalled 5.3 billion kroons. Tax receipts in the ten months are in line with the estimates based on the Ministry of Finance's summer forecast.
In the first ten months of 2009, 51.8 billion kroons of the planned full-year tax revenue amount flew into the state budget, and 58.6 billion kroons in the same period in 2008, the Finance Ministry said on Thursday.
Receipts of social tax in the ten-month period totalled 22.1 billion kroons, 82% of the target. Of this 2.2 billion kroons was paid into the budget in October, 2% less than in October last year.
Personal income tax receipts stood at 69.4% of the planned 12-month figure.
Inflow of value-added tax during the ten-month period came to 16.2 billion kroons, 85.2% of the target. In October 1.6 billion kroons of VAT was paid into the budget, a figure 7.7% smaller than in October 2009. Receipts were affected by bigger VAT refunds, the negative effect from which was partially offest by a month-on-month increase by 138.8 million kroons in declared sales.

Port of Tallinn Freight Throughput Grows 16 Percent on Year in October

1 November (BNS) - Ports of Estonia's state-owned Tallinna Sadam (Port of Tallinn) handled 2.94 million tons of freight in October, 16% more than in the same month last year.
Cargo throughput in the January-October period totalled 30.2 million tons, which means an increase of 16.7% on annual comparison. Shipments of oil products, the largest type of freight, grew 10.6% year-on-year to 20.9 million tons. Bulk cargoes - mainly fertilizers, grain and crushed stone - swelled 38.6% to 4.7 million tons. Ro-ro shipments soared 32%, making up 2.9 million tons, and container throughput increased 16% to 126 900 TEU.
Goods in transit formed 80% of the 10-month freight flows at 24.3 million tons. Estonian exports accounted for 2.6 million tons, up by 37.5% year-on-year. Imports into Estonia surged 39.9% to 3.25 million tons.
The number of passengers who passed through the ports during the 10 months grew 7.9% on annual comparison to 6.74million.

Harju Elekter More Than Doubles Q3 Earnings

4 November (BNS) - The listed Estonian electrical equipment manufacturer AS Harju Elekter earned a net profit of 13.2 million kroons (EUR 0.9 mln) in the third quarter of this year, which marks a 2.3-fold increase over the same period in 2009.
Operating earnings of Harju Elekter in the three-month period jumped 2.4-fold to 14.3 million kroons, the company told the stock exchange. Net earnings per share totalled 0.78 kroons compared with 0.34 kroons in the third quarter of last year.
Consolidated sales revenue came to 173.7 million kroons in the third quarter, signalling a year-on-year increase of 44%.
Net profit for the first nine months of the year doubled from the same period last year to 31.3 million kroons. Sales revenue meanwhile dropped 7.6% to 438.2 million kroons.
On the group's home markets, or in Estonia, Lithuania and Finland, 84.6% of products and services were sold, against 93.6% a year ago. Just like in the corresponding period in 2009, 65% of products and services were sold outside of Estonia.
This year, France, the Czech Republic and Malaysia have been added as new markets and the group has sold its products to those markets for 26.7 million kroons during the nine months. It has also sold its products to Latvia, Portugal and Poland, and outside of the European Union to Belarus, Ukraine, Russia and Norway.
In the third quarter an average 421 people were employed by Harju Elekter, compared with 448 a year ago. Of the employees 270 were working in Estonia, 69 in Lithuania and 82 in Finland.
The core business of the group is the production and sale of electrical distribution systems and control panels, which accounted for almost 90% of revenues.

Visitors to Pärnu Increased This Summer

3 November (BNS) - An estimated 258 000 -285 000 people visited the Estonian resort town of Pärnu during the three months from June to August 2010, marking a slight increase from the estimated 244 000 - 270 000 visitors last summer.
Of the guests in the three-month period this year 23% were domestic tourists and 77% foreign tourists, the Pärnu city government said.
Of foreign tourists, Finns made up 58.1%, 0.3% more than a year ago. Swedes made up 3.6%, Germans 2.9%, and Latvians and Russians 2.3% each. With the exception of Latvians, whose share grew 0.5%, no significant changes took place in the breakdown of visitors by nationality.
Whereas in previous years foreign tourists named sanatorium and spa services as the main reason why they came to Pärnu, this year memories of previous visits were named by 18% of respondents, and Pärnu's quiet and peaceful urban atmosphere by 17%.
Of foreign visitors 98% were satisfied or rather satisfied with their stay in Pärnu, yet the percentage of those who were very satisfied dropped by 12% from last year.
The city of Pärnu used street polls and data from the Statistics Office to compile the survey.

CULTURAL NEWS

Oksanen’s Novel Receives Translated Literature Prize in France

2 November (BNS) - Sofi Oksanen, a Finnish writer with Estonian roots, has been awarded the Prix Femina prize for translated literature in France, STT reported. Oksanen is the first Finnish writer to have been awarded the prize, the agency said.
"It is a great honour to be in the same company with such wonderful writers as Joyce Carol Oats and Amos Oz," Oksanen said. She is now in Reikjavik, Iceland, receiving the literary prize of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
The Prix Femina Etranger prize is given to the best translated novel published in France. The agency said that it would ne announced on Wednesday whether Oksanen will also receive the Medici literary prize given in France. The biggest French bookshop chain, Fnac, elected “Purge” as the novel of the year.
Oksanen's third novel, “Purge”, speaks the story of a family from Estonia's recent past through the tragic experiences of the family's women. “Purge” was first born as a play, which was staged at the Finnish National Theatre with great success.
In 2008 the novel won the most coveted Finnish Finlandia literary prize and in 2010 the noted Runeberg prize. Last spring “Purge” was published also in Estonian. This year President Toomas Hendrik Ilves decorated Oksanen with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana IV Class.
Oksanen was born in 1977 in Jyväskylä to an Estonian mother and Finnish father.

British Publisher Puts Out Book About Baltic Diplomats at Paris Peace Conference

3 November (BNS) - The British Haus Publishing has published a book about the statesmen who represented Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919-1920. The London-based company published the book by the outstanding British historian Charlotte Aston of Northumbria University, "Antonius Piip, Zigfrids Meierovics and Augustinas Voldemaras. The Baltic States". The statesmen mentioned in the title of the book represented their countries at the Paris Peace Conference. The book focuses on the activity on the Baltic countries' delegations at the conference and gives a brief overview of the Baltic countries' history until the restoration of independence.
Although the first name of head of the Estonian delegation and foreign minister appears as Antonius in the title, he has been referred to by his actual name, Ants, all through the book.
Ants Piip was an Estonian politician, diplomat and lawyer; Piip was also the first Estonian state elder. In 1917-1919 Piip was a member of the Estonian foreign delegation in St Petersburg and London and took part in the Paris Peace Conference.
The book was published in the Makers of the Modern World series. The series of 32 books launched in 2008 focuses on the Paris Peace Conference and other peace conferences that took place after World War I in the years 1919-1923.
The Paris Peace Conference was called after World War I and ran from 19 January 1919 until 21 January 1920 in order to reach an agreement on the terms of the peace treaty.