Jarmo Mäkelä
Senior Diplomatic Correspondent, Finnish Broadcasting Company
Estonia as a Great Port
I was once asked what the first association with Estonia was for me. It didn’t take me long to answer. I do not know Estonia all that well and have not travelled around in the country, but I had the answer ready. Estonia is associated with the view we can enjoy when coming into the port of Tallinn.
Many Finns would definitely share this opinion. For most, Estonia means Tallinn – the rest of the country is almost unknown and next to no effort is made to learn to know it. For me, however, the port carries an important meaning. That is, I first visited it in 1978. Every time I pass the port I compare what I remember to what I see now.
It stayed much the same for decades. At last the prison-like greyness and anguish of the people started to gradually disappear. So did the endless-seeming queues, the grumpy customs officers going through the luggage, and the passport officials gloomily examining the travel documents. The city skyline told a story about a vigorous new Manhattan stepping into the shoes of a long-neglected periphery.
Establishing a well-functioning civil society has not been an easy ride for Estonia. The overall atmosphere of narking and betraying – the progeny of a violent state apparatus – destroyed mutual trust and solidarity between people. The end of the occupation and regained independence did not re-establish them overnight. These traits had to be recreated over time.
Democracy has to be relearned, too. A political system where the political party victorious at one election would not be there to see the next one raised a few eyebrows outside Estonia. The party leaders, governments, and people’s representatives swapped places so frequently it was impossible to keep a tally. Only now with the new system in place for two decades, political stability – the inevitable prerequisite of sustainable development – has gained ground.
This is encouraging, as the global economic downturn hit Estonia harder than most of the EU members. Last year the country’s GDP dropped some 15%. Yet Estonia has been one of the few countries to turn the tables in its favour.
Unlike other nations, Estonia accumulated fiscal reserves during the boom years. The foresight of such a choice became apparent last autumn. Thanks to the Stabilisation Fund, Estonia had a budget deficit of a mere 2.2% in 2009 and it will not see 2% this year. This means Estonia could be the first of the Baltic three to adopt the euro early next year and the economy would be well on its way to recovery already in 2013. It is a significant accomplishment for a country whose key export markets – Finland and Sweden – are still rather sluggish.
Multi-national Estonia
Estonia has been ruled under occupation by two ruthless totalitarian superpowers. Now Estonia is independent and is an active member of the EU and NATO. Estonia has become its own master, but different ethnic groups still live in the country. It is important to understand how the Russian-speaking ethnic groups live in Estonia. The Russians can be divided into three groups: 140 000 Russians speak Estonian, 73 000 Russians use only the Russian language and 133 000 Russians do not have citizenship. (Suomen Kuvalehti, 5/2009)
The town of Paldiski lies 50 kilometres from the capital Tallinn. During the Soviet era it was closed to the civilian population. During the Cold War 16 000 people lived here, now the population is only one quarter of that. Paldiski has become one of the Russian-speaking regions in Estonia. “I speak Russian, eat Russian food and watch Russian television. But I have never thought of going to live in Yekaterinburg, where my parents came from in the 1960s to live here,” says Mikhail. “I would feel even more a stranger there. The living conditions are much better here than they are in Russia.” “We have not yet become a united nation, but I believe that it is a matter of changing times and generations,” says Julia Bali from the Russian-language radio station Raadio 4. “Young people like me, whose parents are Russian, but who were born here, do not miss living in Russia. They want to travel and study in Europe and the USA, not in Moscow or St. Petersburg.” (Le Point, 19.3)
President Toomas Hendrik Ilves presenting the Citizenship Certificate.
© Ilja Prokopjev
Integration in Estonia follows its own path, despite the government’s efforts. It is not easy to unite the concepts “Estonia as the home only of the Estonians” and “Estonia as a multi-national country”. At the same time, you constantly hear Russian on the streets of Tallinn, Russians serve in the Estonian Defence Forces, and the number of “non-citizens” is constantly decreasing. Although many were not happy about the relocation of the Bronze Soldier monument, no-one really wants to move from Estonia to Russia. (Время новостей, 3.4)
Kindergartens where small Russian children learn the local language through games are trying to break the ice between the two communities. A language immersion group operates in the Tartu kindergarten Kelluke. Language immersion is a game, where the language is learned via singing and various games. Many children who went to Kelluke are already in school and according to feedback from parents, early language immersion has helped them to manage better in school. Teacher Julia Faizullova says that the children from the language immersion group would get on very well in Estonian-speaking schools, but parents still prefer their children to go to Russian-language schools. The deputy head teacher of the kindergarten Julia Eskor says that children from Russian families can already understand Estonian during the first two months of the language immersion, after which they begin to use Estonian words themselves. The Kelluke kindergarten also does partial language immersion, where studies are conducted in both Estonian and Russian in parallel. (Courrier international, 20.-27.5)
Language immersion in Narva Soldino secondary school. © Soldino secondary school
The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 20 years ago is one of the key dates in the history of Europe. Countries freed from the communist regime had to start from scratch, establishing a multi-party system, and guaranteeing freedom of speech, the publication of independent media, private property and a working market economy. In Estonia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Poland, young people vote knowing nothing of the oppression, lies and repression. In Estonia two communities live peacefully side by side, Estonians and Russians, sharing history and painful sufferings. Despite the difficulties they have managed to turn a new page. One of the driving forces has definitely been integration into Europe. (Le Monde, 3.11)
Bank of Happiness
As the global financial meltdown bites in Estonia, Rainer Nõlvak, one of the organisers of last year’s garbage-clearing campaigns, is planning to launch a virtual bank of happiness to boost the morale of the society. Nõlvak says that in order to fight the economic recession you have to start gathering good ideas on the grass-roots level. That is how the so-called Bank of Happiness works, where everyone can offer and accept deeds coming from a good heart. The founders of the Bank of Happiness hope to stress the idea that a good deed is as valuable as money. (Islam Online, 28.2)
Citizen’s initiative in the Estonian way - in the Bank of Happiness everything comes straight from the heart.
© Õnnepank
How to cope with the first global depression since World War II? The country of Estonia in Northern Europe actually has an online “Happiness Bank.” Users accumulate virtual “money” by doing good deeds for others. According to one of the entrepreneurs who started the project, it supports the belief that doing good deeds has a measurable value in itself. He encourages people to learn something new and do everything to further their economic and intellectual prosperity. (Macronews, 24.3)
Estonians have created their Bank of Happiness, which trades in good deeds. The first official transaction was carried out in a Tallinn apartment, where Nele cut Peeter’s hair for free. Unlike Eesti Pank (the national Bank of Estonia), the Bank of Happiness has no carved wooden doors, imposing pillars or marble floors. Not a single Estonian kroon will sully its accounts, for it is a virtual bank that will trade purely on good deeds. To become a client, an Estonian must register online, listing the useful things that he can do for others (for example, grocery shopping, walking a dog, fixing cars) and those that he would like done unto him (for example, having a suit darned or windows cleaned). The “bank” is really an internet portal to allow the civic-minded across Estonia to network altruistically with each other. Professor Martin Seligman, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, calls it “a creative idea, worth following closely”. So far, people have been very optimistic about this new initiative and are convinced that the Bank of Happiness is necessary. (The Times, 8.4)
The Bank of Happiness is located in the virtual world and all it takes to become a client is a mouse click. But user-friendliness is not the principal virtue of the Bank of Happiness. The originality of the bank lies in its new way of thinking during a time of crisis: here people trade in good deeds. Client identification is via ID cards or bank accounts, those who have no access to computers can use the help of a regional Chief of Happiness. Everything is free in the Bank of Happiness, although the bank does have its own currency, the Star of Gratitude, with the rate 1 good deed = 1 Star of Gratitude. There are no limits in collecting the Stars of Gratitude and if someone becomes a Star of Gratitude millionaire, he may consider himself an honourable person. But the holder of just one Star of Gratitude must know that he has done something special and good. You can raise personal image capital with the help of a Star of Gratitude, and it is a currency that will never be devaluated. (Grande Europe, 10/2009)
Original Estonian people
During his studies, Philippe Jourdan was training to become an engineer. Now he has become a citizen of Estonia and the only Catholic bishop of this small Baltic state. Philippe Jourdan was born in south-west France, in Dax, and in 1996 he arrived in Estonia as a priest. In 2004 he became the last bishop nominated by Pope John Paul II. Monseigneur Jourdan is the first Catholic bishop in Estonia after 63 years. Estonians who know him or hear him speak on television are surprised by how well he knows the Estonian language. It is true that for Bishop Jourdan the challenge here lies in something else. “Estonia is not an easy country from the point of view of the Catholic church. Catholicism is not very widespread here, and what is more, Estonia is not a very religious country.” The Catholic community in Estonia has about 6 000 members. For them Bishop Philippe Jourdan celebrates Resurrection Mass at the Cathedral of the Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul in Tallinn’s old town. (La Voix de Nord, 11.4)
Philippe Jourdan is the first Catholic bishop in Estonia after 63 years.
© Delfi Pressifoto
Endel Tulving, the Canadian psychologist of Estonian descent, is one of the most renowned memory researchers in the world. His many years of research work were recently recognised with the award of the Pasteur-Weizmann-Servier Prize. Tulving says that he began to study memory because other research work required expensive laboratory equipment that a young scientist could not afford. Today Tulving is one of the most influential researchers of cognitive psychology in the world. His findings have influenced the theories explaining human memory and have helped to develop the treatments for memory interferences. Tulving’s scientific work over almost half a century has helped us to see which memory mechanisms regulate our lives. One of the top French memory experts, Francis Eustache from the University of Caen, says that among neuropsychologists Tulving is one of the most serious researchers in the world, and his contribution to establishing different types of memory and researching them is exceptional. The Pasteur-Weizmann-Servier International Prize is awarded every three years, and it is compared to the Nobel Prize in importance. The prize is accompanied by an award of 150 000 Euros or 2.3 million kroons. (Les Echos, 30.12)
Ambulance patrols on bicycles are a novelty in Tallinn. The aim of the pilot project by the alarm centre is to determine whether such a mobile patrol would be necessary on the narrow streets of old Tallinn in the future. In summer there are many people in Tallinn's Old Town, and if there is an accident or sudden illness the arrival of an ambulance may be delayed and it may not be able to access all places. A bicycle may be a more practical vehicle than an ambulance in such cases. The purpose of the ambulance patrol on bicycles is not to replace the ambulance, but it may free an ambulance crew for more serious tasks while the bicycle patrol deals with simpler cases itself. (ESS, 13.8)
Still new in Tallinn streets – bicycle ambulance.
The European Commission recently published a report on youth literacy in different member states. It appeared that a quarter of 15-year-old Europeans have difficulties with reading. Some member states cope a lot better than others, and Estonia has the highest literacy rate. The small country has reason to be proud: only around 14% of Estonians under fifteen have literacy problems, while, to put that into context, approximately 22% of French children in the same age range have difficulties. In kindergarten, two hours a week are dedicated to learning to read. In school a lot of attention is paid to reading as well, and good reading skills are an important requirement in higher education. In order to raise the literacy rate, a mobile library bus has been on the move in the suburbs of Tallinn in order to enhance reading skills. There both older and younger people interested in reading can borrow books for up to three weeks. (France 24, 28.12)
