Domestic News

11 April (BNS)

AS Regio, an Estonian provider of location-based solutions, has finished taking images of Estonian tourist attractions and streets for Google's Street View application and forwarded the data to Google, the daily Õhtuleht says. The company hopes the service will be implemented in the second quarter of the year.

Regio collected GPS positioning data, photos, and images of objects and traffic signs by laser scanning for Street View during the summer months last year.

Project manager Sven Veskioja said the whole process has basically ended for Regio and it now only has to wait for when the Map application will be made available by Google. "We do not have a firm agreement but according to preliminary information the service should become available in the summer," he said.

25 March (BNS)

Victims of the mass deportations carried out by Soviet authorities in March 1949 are being commemorated across Estonia today.

A wreath-laying ceremony will take place at the War of Independence monument in Tallinn's central Vabaduse (Freedom) Square at noon. It will be attended by representatives of state agencies, the leaders of the Defence Forces and the volunteer corps Kaitseliit (Defence League), diplomats, and representatives of the association of illegally repressed persons Memento.

A memorial service will be held at St. John's Church in Tallinn at 13.00 In the evening, thousands of candles will be lit in memory of the victims in Tallinn and other Estonian cities at 18.00.

Between 25 and 29 March 1949, the Soviet regime deported more than 20 000 Estonians to Siberia.

26 March (BNS)

Estonia is in 14th place in the European Commission's Innovation Union Scoreboard 2013, after Cyprus and ahead of Italy.

Together with the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, the UK, Austria, Ireland, France, Slovenia and Cyprus, Estonia is placed by the survey in the second group, or innovation followers, which have results that are above or close to the EU average, the European Commission said in a press release.

The countries that the survey described as innovation leaders are Sweden in first place, followed by Germany, Denmark and Finland.

Lithuania and Latvia are ranked respectively 23rd and 25th.

The European Commission said that in relative terms, Estonia is undoubtedly the European leader in innovation growth, followed by Lithuania and Latvia, because these are the countries – despite being a long way behind the leaders – that have the highest rate of improvement.

While almost all member states improved their innovation performance, Estonia grew with an average annual rate of 7.1%. Overall, the EU annual average growth rate of innovation performance reached 1.6% over the analysed five-year period 2008-2012. It is followed by Lithuania and Latvia that improved at average annual rates of 5.0% and 4.4% respectively. The lowest positive innovation growth rates were recorded in Poland, 0.4%, Bulgaria, 0.6%, and Sweden, 0.6%.  

15 November (BNS)

Five new scientists at the University of Tartu in southern Estonia have been added to the one percent of the most-quoted scientists throughout the world and as a result there are now 20 University of Tartu scientists among the 25 most-quoted Estonian scientists.

At the beginning of September the database of the Thomson Reuters Web of Science (Essential Science Indicators - ESI) overview was renewed and five new scientists were added to it from the University of Tartu, a press officer for the University of Tartu told BNS.

Estonian scientists on the list were environmental science and ecology sphere researcher Anto Aasa with 551 quotations, Rein Ahas with 564, and Ülo Mander with 537 quotations. In the molecular biology and genetics sphere, researchers Markus Perola and Reedik Mägi, who work on the transition genomic project, made it into the number of the most-quoted researchers with 2 200 and 1 422 quotes respectively.

If the number of quotations from Estonian scientists continues to grow at the same pace, then the influence of Estonian science should catch up with the world average level by the end 2014, which would mean being part of the world's twenty best science centres.

The most quoted spheres of science in which University of Tartu researchers have arrived among the best one percent are chemistry, clinical medicine, animal and plant science, environmental science and ecology, general social sciences, biosciences, material science, geosciences, and technical science.

26 July (BNS)

Wednesday morning the historical Tartu Railway Station, which stood empty for years, reopened its doors, the Aktuaalne Kaamera newscast of the public TV channel ETV reported. In 2006 the railway station building suffered from a fire, which destroyed most of the Soviet-era interior. The original details, however, were under the plaster and survived.

Mayor of Tartu Urmas Kruuse expressed the hope that the station building and the waiting room would not  just serve travellers but that the space would also be used to display art and perhaps even for staging plays.

The Tartu Railway Station belongs to OÜ AK Varad and under the contract the railway station will operate in the building until at least 2031. Restoration of the station cost more than one million euros, Aktuaalne Kaamera said.

13 January (BNS)

The Estonian Open Air Museum had 129 00 visitors last year, 17% more than the year before. The turnover of the museum has also increased, with visitors leaving more than 1.1 million euros at the museum last year, the museum informed BNS.

Merike Lang, director of the Open Air Museum, said that growth in the number of visitors was achieved thanks to the European Capital of Culture year as well as the quality of the events held and the services provided at the museum.

The Open Air Museum will mark its 55th anniversary this year. On the occasion of the anniversary a new exhibit, the Lau Village Store, will be opened on 22 May. The furnishings and goods offered for sale at the store will take the visitors back to the year 1939. In addition, there will be a number of bigger and smaller events and educational programmes taking place at the museum.
 

30 August (BNS)

At an extraordinary session on Thursday afternoon, the Estonian parliament passed the Bill on the Ratification and Implementation of the Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The bill was approved by the 101-seat chamber in the third reading with 59 votes to 34 and one abstention. The bill passed its first reading on 8 August and second reading earlier on Thursday.

On Tuesday the bill was reviewed  by the parliamentary finance committee, which in the course of a five-hour discussion went through 12 proposals for amendments and made 10 changes to the bill.

The chairman of the finance committee, Sven Sester, said the amendments significantly increased the sphere of the Riigikogu’s jurisdiction by bringing the approval of memorandums of understanding and amendments, which would require rapid decision-making, into the plenary of the Riigikogu rather than leaving them to be decided by the standing committee on European Union affairs.

The Treaty Establishing the European Stability Mechanism was signed in Brussels on 2 February 2012. The bill concerns the national performance of the financial obligations assumed by the state. According to the bill, Estonia agrees to participate in ESM to the extent of 13 020 shares with a nominal value of 1.320 billion euros, of which 148.8 million euros will be contributed as paid-in capital within five years as of the entry into force of the treaty and 1.1532 billion euros will be contributed as calls of capital on receipt of a capital call pursuant to the treaty.

The amounts to be paid to the ESM will be reflected in the state budget.

All euro area member states will become ESM members and stability support will be granted, under strict economic policy conditionality, to ESM members which are experiencing severe financing problems. In setting the conditions and financing economic programs, the ESM will co-operate with the International Monetary Fund.

11 August (BNS)

A gunman was involved in a shootout in the Estonian Ministry of Defence building in Tallinn on Thursday afternoon. He was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police. The man who entered the foyer of the Estonian Ministry of Defence on Thursday was later identified as Estonian citizen Karen Drambjan, born 1954. The man was not associated with the Defence Forces or the Ministry of Defence. The offender was armed with a pistol and explosive packets.

According to the North Regional Prosecutor's Office, the police received information at 15:08 that an unknown man armed with a pistol had entered the Defence Ministry building and opened fire. A smoke bomb was also thrown into the building.

The Ministry of Defence security team immediately informed the police and while they made an effort to stop the perpetrator, the personnel of the Ministry of Defence began an evacuation.

Hostages were not taken during the incident, although two people who had been in the Ministry of Defence were briefly in the hands of the perpetrator.

A joint operation to apprehend the suspect was carried out on site by the police and the Security Police. A special unit of ten men entered the Defence Ministry Building along with a bomb robot. According to the North Regional Prosecutor's Office, the offender was killed in the course of the police operation. "No one else was injured and the threat is over," the spokesman for the Prosecutor's Office said. Defence Minister Mart Laar was not in the building during the incident.

To investigate the incident, a criminal case has been opened on the basis of paragraphs 120 and 136 of the Penal Code, which address threats and the deprivation of liberty without legal grounds.

The criminal case is being processed by the Security Police and the investigation is being led by the Northern District Prosecutor's Office.
 

31 October

Estonia is in 35th place among the 142 countries on the Legatum Institute’s 2012 Prosperity Index. Estonia scored highly in the areas of entrepreneurship and business freedom, governance, education, and social capital. Estonia scored below average in the areas of individual freedoms and the economy, respectively in 74th and 60th place.

Norway was at the top of the index, followed by Denmark and then Sweden. Finland is ranked 7th, Lithuania 43rd and Latvia 47th.

All the countries in Western Europe are among the top 30 in the index, with the exceptions of Greece (49th) and Italy (33rd). The countries of Central and Eastern Europe can be found in the middle of the index, with only the Czech Republic and Slovenia being found among the top 30. Among Eastern European countries, Estonia ranks fourth in terms of prosperity, after Slovenia (24th), the Czech Republic (28th), and Poland (32nd).

To measure the prosperity of the countries, in addition to material wealth the institute considered social capital, effective governance, human rights and freedoms, health, security, and quality of life. The data used to compile the Prosperity Index are mostly from the year 2011.

The Legatum Institute noted that global prosperity has increased across all regions in the past four years, regardless of the economic crisis, uprisings and protests seen in different parts in the world. However, the sense of safety and security is decreasing amid tension in the Middle East and fear of crime in Latin America.

8 October (BNS)

It appears from a poll carried out by the Estonian Finance Ministry that 87% of residents know that Estonia receives subsidies from the European Union and a large proportion of people find that their influence is positive for the Estonian economy.

Nearly half of Estonian residents know or have heard something about the EU structural subsidies. Similar to earlier years Estonians, people with higher education, and people with higher incomes were more informed about it than other groups.

People who knew about the subsidies were asked to name institutions in Estonia that mediate structural subsidies. Half of the respondents named the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA ) and 23% Enterprise Estonia (EAS).

The respondents found that the main aim of the EU structural funds is to support sustainable activity of the economy, to improve competitiveness, and to raise the rate of employment. The overwhelming majority of the respondents found that the structural subsidies had a positive influence on the development of the Estonian economy. Only 5% of the persons informed about the euro-subsidies found that their influence is negative.

Over the years the number of persons informed about structural subsidies who regard the planning and distribution of euro funds to be clear and transparent has grown 7% to 46 points. The main concern in the distribution and planning of the subsidies, the respondents find, is poor distribution of information.

Estonian residents are quite sure that roads, railways, ports, regional development, as well as enterprise and innovation get support. The AHHAA Centre was one of the projects and activities the respondents mentioned the most frequently.

The overwhelming majority of the respondents believe that EU structural means were channelled into the right spheres, and only one fifth find that their choice was not right. They find that education should get more support than it does and 14% of the respondents find that state structures should get less support than they actually get.

A total of 3.40 billion euros had been assigned to Estonian for the development of regional policy in the years 2007-13.

The aim of the poll carried out on commission by the Finance Ministry was to establish information and bias of the population in the sphere of structural subsidies of the European Union. The poll was carried out by Faktum & Ariko in face-to-face interviews with 1012 persons aged from 18 to 74 answering to the question.

12 June

The Foreign Ministry has allocated 19 608 euros to support a project of Humana Estonia that aims to increase the number of topics related to global and development education that are taught in Estonian schools. The project will include the teaching of the principles of global and development education as early as pre-school, with the goal of cultivating a feeling of solidarity in children and expanding their worldview.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that an interest in the cultures, religions, and customs of other countries helps people to better understand their place in the world. “This is why it is important to grant more attention to global education in Estonia,” he added.

The Humana Estonia project will introduce the principles and values of global education to primary school instructors and university students that are studying to become primary school teachers. The projects will also be geared towards professors who could tie global education themes into their lectures and seminars.

Global education is a learning process in which the principal values are solidarity, equality, inclusion, and co-operation. Global education gets individuals to understand the causes and effects of globalisation and to become familiar with the primary international development goals and human development concepts, creating an opportunity for them to make their own contribution and be active citizens.
 

21 August (BNS)

In his speech held on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of the restoration of Estonia's independence, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves cautioned against forgetting the past while criticising the shortcomings of the present.

"We must become accustomed to the fact that when we speak about the present, comparing it with the past becomes less relevant. And in many ways this is good and right. Because for how long can we remain depressed about the past? It is easier to lead our lives when the past has gradually freed us from its oppressive shackles," said the president.

"Even so, the rapid onset of amnesia is somewhat frightening. Especially since we know what complete forgetting can lead to. We want to be like countries that are much richer than we are," the president said in the speech held in the Kadriorg Rose Garden. We no longer compare ourselves to the situation we were in twenty years ago but it would be worthwhile to do so and we should in order to stay in touch with reality, he said.

The president said that on the eve of the 22nd year of restored Estonian independence he was the most worried about the disappointment and provocation going on in politics and democratic governance. "In the foreign country  we were once a part of, we were oppressed by the knowledge that we were powerless to decide anything on our own. Being able to make our own decisions is exactly why we wanted our independent state back," Ilves said.

"The past, nonetheless, vigorously continues to live on close by us. There in that foreign country, our separation from which we celebrate today. Show trials and witch-hunts for alleged terrorists, political opponents or protesters against authoritarianism, persecution of the free press in all those countries classified as not free or partly free by Freedom House demonstrate how different, how exceptional our way, the Estonian way, has been," Ilves emphasised.

The president called upon people to keep alive the joy they were overcome with when they stood on the threshold of their regained freedom, their independence, 21 years ago.
 

3 July (ERR)

Estonian lakes and rivers scored highest on an overview of the quality of bathing water recently published by the European Environment Agency.

The water quality is excellent in most of Estonia's inland swimming areas. Samples were taken from 28 inland bodies of water. Of these, the quality was "excellent" in 26, according to the European Commission's office in Estonia. In the other two, the quality was "good." The main criterion was testing for enterococci and E. coli.

That level of 92.8% was followed by Germany (90.2%) and Austria (83.5%), where samples were taken from 1 938 and 267 bodies of water respectively. Finland had a score of 80.3% and Latvia, 64.3%.

As far as seaside sites, Estonia's results were not stellar. Cyprus, Malta and Greece were the leaders scoring close to 100 percent "excellent," but only 13 of the 27 beaches sampled in Estonia, 44%, were in that category. That was a drop of over 20 percentage points from 2010. Finland's mark was 70% and Latvia's was 43.8%. However, over 80 percent of Estonian beaches were in the "excellent" or "good" categories.

The two seaside sites that received a "poor" quality rating, Pärnu and Pedeli, exceeded levels for coliform bacteria. But there were no closures; the readings were considered the result of short-term pollution events and the study noted that the samples were taken during bad weather.

25 October (BNS)

The international think tank Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) included Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, on its list of the 21 most intelligent communities in the world. Making it onto the Smart21 list is the first step in the competition of over 400 communities worldwide vying for the title of the most intelligent community of the year.

All the areas on the Smart21 list are good examples of economic development and the city government of Tallinn considers it an honour to even be included on the list.

Tallinn and the other competitors all focused on the same themes in their applications for this year – innovation and employment. Tallinn was then compared to other communities on the basis of these two areas. Tallinn’s application included descriptions of programmes and development plans that have created a foundation for innovation in the city of Tallinn, including the initiative to create an IT academy and the Estonian Information Society Strategy 2013+.

This is not the first time the city of Tallinn has been recognised by the ICF. From 2007-2010 Tallinn was ranked among the Seven Most Intelligent Communities.

The Intelligent Communities Forum is a non-profit organisation that brings together intelligent communities from all over the world. The organisation introduces its members’ accomplishments to the world, helps to develop valuable ties among the public and private sector leaders in its communities, helps with peaceful development in communities, and tries to ensure good opportunities for innovative and dynamic  information technology development.

Only communities that qualify for the Smart21, Intelligent Community of the Year, or Top Seven Intelligent Communities can be members of the ICF. Tallinn’s participation in the work of the ICF offers good opportunities to gain useful knowledge about IT and other high-technology solutions in the public sectors of other countries. Being part of the ICF also helps to introduce Tallinn as an innovative and developed community with modern solutions in the public sector outside of the European Union.
 

9 July (BNS)

Nearly half of Estonian residents use the Internet several times a day; the indicator is ten percentage points higher than the European average. In Estonia, 49% of residents use the internet several times a day, it appears from a recent Eurobarometer study. Use of the internet at a public place or school is also more widespread.

In addition, the rate of use of internet banking services by residents of Estonia is more than one-third higher than the EU average and Estonians are also significantly more frequent readers of news on the web, it appears from the recent study on cyber security by Eurobarometer.

Users of internet banking make up 85% of the population in Estonia, compared with 48% in the EU on average. As regards readers of news online, the ratios are 87% in Estonia and 64% in EU countries on average. Estonian residents are also somewhat more frequent users of e-mail than people in other EU member states, the ratios being respectively 89% and 85%. When it comes to buying goods and services on the internet, with 46%, Estonia is lagging behind the EU average of 53%.

Users who most often access the internet when they are at home make up 95% in the EU on average and 94% in Estonia. Next comes the workplace, from where 38% of respondents in all EU countries and 42% in Estonia access the web. When asked whether they had changed their password in online environments during the past year, 52% of users in Estonia said they had done it in the online bank, as compared with the EU average ratio of 19%.

When asked how concerns about security issues had changed the way they were using the internet, Estonians named installing anti-virus software and not opening mails from an unknown sender most often, or 57% in the case of both answers. The corresponding EU average ratios were 51% and 43%. Overall, users in Estonia are less fearful in conducting transactions on the internet then EU residents on average.

The issues of security causing the most concern in Estonia are the safety of payments, named by 29% against the EU average ratio of 38%. Next came concern over the misusing of personal data, named by 20% in Estonia and 40% in the EU on average.

The Eurobarometer survey was conducted from 10-25 March 2012 by interviewing 26 593 people across the EU. In Estonia 1 001 people were interviewed.

26 March (ERR)

On 25 March people gathered in Tallinn's Freedom Square and in Tartu’s Town Hall Square to light candles to commemorate the 22 000 Estonians who were deported from their homes to Siberia 63 years ago.

Over the course of four days in March 1949, families were given only an hour or two in the middle of the night to pack their belongings. They were then herded into railroad cattle cars, regardless of age or sex, to be taken to their new destinations, either forced labour camps or collective farms in Siberia. Some managed to escape, many perished on the way, and others never made it back to Estonia.

In Tallinn 22 000 candles were lit on Freedom Square in the evening, one candle for each of the Estonians deported in March 1949. The candlelight vigil was preceded by a memorial ceremony on the square and service at St. John's Church. As candles were being lit on central city squares in Tallinn and Tartu on 25 March, Baltic communities worldwide were also marking the anniversary of mass deportations to Siberia 63 years ago. Candles were lit by expat Estonian organisations in Finland, the United States, Germany, the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium and Latvia.

More about Soviet deportations from Estonia in 1940s:
http://estonia.eu/about-estonia/history/soviet-deportations-from-estonia-in-1940s.html
 

12 July (BNS)

Estonia is close to the European average in terms of the number of computers per household, but it has more internet connections than the EU average, it appears from a Eurobarometer study.

According to the study, in Estonia 69% of households have a computer, slightly more that the EU average. But 67% of Estonian households have internet connections, while the average for the EU is 62%.

The highest percentage of households with a computer is in the Netherlands, where at least one computer can be found in 95% of households, and the number of households connected to the internet is also the highest in that country with 94%.

The smallest number of households with a computer is in Bulgaria, where it is in fewer than half of households (47%),and Bulgaria is also bringing up the rear in terms of internet connections, which are in 44% of households in the country.

The electronic communication Eurobarometer study was carried out from this February to March and 26 836 people from 27 member countries of the European Union took part in it.
 

19 June

In co-operation with the Estonian Green Movement, the Foreign Ministry is helping to increase awareness in Estonian society of the importance and influence of fair trade on developing countries.

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the goal is to clarify to people what opportunities there are for everyone to support developing countries and help to improve their standard of living by using that country’s fair trade goods. “By preferring to buy fair trade products, an informed consumer can ensure better economic and social conditions for the residents of developing countries,” he added.

Within the framework of the Estonian Green Movement’s project, fair trade club events will be organised in five Estonian cities and will include local volunteers, entrepreneurs, and well-known people.

Paet said that the goal of fair trade is to ensure a fair price for the products that come from small farmers in developing countries and to improve the working conditions of employees in large manufacturing companies. Other points that are emphasised are to not use child labour or waste natural resources in making products.
 

21 June (BNS)

On the basis of a language proficiency study initiated by the European Commission, Estonian schoolchildren's command of English was the fourth best among the 14 countries that took part in the study; command of the other tested language, German, was poorer among Estonian young people, and they remained seventh in the study.

The study confirmed that Estonian schoolchildren's command of their first foreign language was at a good level, Tõnu Teder, adviser at the language department of the Ministry of Education and Research, told reporters. "But it is necessary to think how to improve the study of a second foreign language, because there is still a lot of room for development there," Tender added.

In addition to the command of a language, the study also examined some aspects of language learning. It was confirmed, for example, that learning a foreign language as early as possible would ensure better command of the language. Students who feel the need to learn a language achieve better results than students whose attitude to learning a language is reluctant.  A somewhat surprising conclusion from the study was that independent use of a computer for language learning exercised a negative influence on the command of a language.

11 April (ERR)

Last year, Estonians returned 89% of all the plastic bottles that they bought. Another 81% of glass bottles and 61% of tin cans were also recovered. The company in charge of collecting, sorting, transporting and recycling returnable beverage containers, Eesti Pandipakend, said recovery centers received 8% more returnables in 2011 compared to the year before – amounting to 223 million containers.

Plastic bottles and tin cans were returned the most. Recovery of tin cans increased by 20% compared to the year before, while the rate for plastic bottles stayed the same. Collection of glass bottles grew by 13%.

The sale of returnable containers also increased in 2011 by 10%, according to Rauno Raal, the company's CEO. “The market is recovering and the economy has improved. I am happy that this has not had a negative impact on the environmentally friendly mentality and behavior,” said Raal.

Most of the returnable containers are for bottled water, soft drinks, beer and other alcoholic drinks. Consumers pay a deposit of 4 to 8 cents on returnable containers which is refunded at the collection point.
 

15 February (BNS)

A total of 143 784 people had filled out their personal income tax declaration over the internet by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, the Estonian Tax and Customs Board said. Tax returns for 2011 can be filled out over the internet starting from midnight on Tuesday.

By the same time last year 139 920 individuals had filed their taxes online.

Hannes Udde, lead specialist at the Tax and Customs Board, said the tax authority was expecting approximately 645 000 people to declare their income for 2011, roughly as many as a year ago. Of the income tax returns of physical persons in Estonia, 93 percent were filed electronically last year.

6 March (BNS)

As much as 36% of residents of Estonia used mobile internet in 2011, it appears from a survey taken by pollster TNS Emor. Of different operators the biggest market share belonged to Elisa, which had 33% of the private customer segment in 2011. Users of the mobile internet of EMT made up 29% and users of the service of Tele2 21% of the total number of users of mobile internet in Estonia.

Commenting on the outcome of the survey, TNS Emor lead expert Mari-Liis Eensalu said that mobile internet partially has helped out residents in rural areas that have problems with the availability of permanent connections.

In 2010, 22% of Estonian residents used the mobile internet service of Elisa. This year the ratio is expected to climb above 50%, said Andrus Hiiepuu, head of private customer services at Elisa.

3 January (BNS)

The anniversary of the armistice of the War of Independence and those who fell in the war fought for Estonia's freedom were commemorated by a minute of silence all over Estonia on Tuesday.

In his speech at the War of Independence Victory Monument, Defence Minister Mart Laar said that without the victory in the War of Independence, we would not be living in our own state of Estonia and would probably not be speaking Estonian. "Estonia has not won many wars, but we did win the most important of them," Laar said.

"Like in the War of Independence, the defence of our country is not a matter for a select few but for the whole society," said Henri Rastas, a student of the Tallinn Science School, remembering schoolboys who fell on the front.

In addition to the ceremony at the War of Independence Victory Monument, units of the Defence Forces and Kaitseliit companies laid wreaths at the War of Independence memorials throughout Estonia. The anniversary of the armistice was also marked by the ringing of church bells all over Estonia, with a minute of silence in radio programs and by ship horn whistles at the port.

The armistice between Estonia and the Soviet Union entered into force from 10 a.m. on 3 January 1920. The War of Independence lasted from 29 November 1918 until 3 January 1920 and ended with Estonia's victory. Estonia lost more than 6 000 people and about 14 000 were injured. Germans, Russians, Finns, Danes, Jews, Swedes, Brits, Frenchmen and Americans also fought in the Estonian War of Independence.
 

23 May (BNS)

The water quality at Estonia’s bathing sites is among the best in Europe according to analysis of last year’s data by the European Environmental Agency. The water quality in 95% of Estonian bathing areas is good or exceptional; the water quality is on a similar level in Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Austria, Poland, Montenegro, Great Britain, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Portugal, and Germany.

While in Cyprus, Malta, Croatia, Greece, Germany, Romania, Portugal, Austria, Ireland, Great Britain and Italy the water quality in over 80% of swimming areas was exceptional, in Estonia the proportion of places with this rating was lower at close to 71%.

In the Netherlands the water quality in over 10 percent of bathing sites was poor, and together with Bulgaria, Latvia, Luxembourg and Belgium the proportion of bathing areas with excellent water quality was quite low, reaching only 47.4%. In Bulgaria the percentage of excellent water quality areas was 49.5%, in Latvia and Luxembourg it was 50% and in Belgium it was 52.1%.

2 February

Foreign Minister Urmas Paet stated that the Tartu Peace Treaty, concluded 93 years ago on 2 February 1920, is one of Estonia’s most important international agreements. “The Tartu Peace Treaty provided a solid base for our statehood and the necessary legal framework for Estonia’s diplomats at the time to start working in the international arena,” said Paet.

Foreign Minister Paet also said that when talking about the Tartu Peace Treaty, we must remember not just the historical role played by international agreement but also their role in diplomacy today. “International agreements – from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations to the current European Union financial agreements – significantly affect international politics,” he noted.

Estonian diplomats, whose job it is to advance international relations through both bilateral and multilateral communication, encounter the topic of international agreements on a daily basis. “Estonia has concluded hundreds of international agreements. Last year, for example, we concluded over 20 agreements with other countries or international organisations,” said Paet.

Yesterday an international law seminar dedicated to the 93rd anniversary of the Tartu Peace Treaty was held at the Foreign Ministry, organised by the Foreign Ministry in co-operation with Tallinn Law School at the Tallinn University of Technology. During the seminar Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Lauri Bambus provided a look back at the Estonian foreign service, Per Bergling of the Swedish Foreign Minister spoke on the topic of “Foreign agreements and the scythe of time”, and Tanel Kerikmäe and Katrin Nyman-Metcalf of the Tallinn Law School at the Tallinn University of Technology spoke about the development of international agreement law.

30 August (BNS)

According to the preliminary results of the Population and Housing Census (PHC) 2011, 157 languages are spoken in Estonia as a native language, compared to 109 languages at the time of the previous census in 2000, Statistics Estonia said.

Estonian is the native language for 886 859 people or 68.5% of the population, followed by Russian, native speakers of which number 383 062 and make up 29.6% of the population. The third most common native language is Ukrainian with 8 012 native speakers, who make up 0.6% of the population. There are a total of 25 languages with more than one hundred native speakers in Estonia.

In the previous census conducted in 2000, respondents named 109 different languages as their mother tongue.

For the first time, the 2011 census enabled respondents to report their knowledge of Estonian dialects. In all 131 243 people, or 10.1% of permanent residents of Estonia, were able to speak a dialect.

The dialect mentioned the most often was the Võru dialect spoken in the country's southeast, named by 87 048, including 12 549 who named its Seto subdialect. People having knowledge of the Saarte (Islands) dialect numbered 24 520, including 1 320 respondents who named the Kihnu subdialect, and those having knowledge of the Mulgi dialect, 9 698.

The 11th population census in Estonia was conducted from 31 December 2011 to 31 March 2012. The previous censuses were carried out in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1941, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2000. The next population census will be conducted in Estonia in 2020/2021.

15 June (BNS)

In 2010 54% of the territory of Estonia was covered by forest and other wooded land, with which the country ranked high among the member states of the European Union that have the greatest proportion of forest cover, figures published by Eurostat on Wednesday show.

The EU member state with the highest percentage of territory covered by forest in 2010 was Finland, with a ratio of 77%. Sweden came next with 76%, followed by Slovenia with 63%, Latvia with 56%, and Spain with 55%. In all other EU member states, the ratio was lower than 50%. At the bottom of the table came Malta with 0.5%.

Forests cover 11% of the territory of the Netherlands, 12% of the territory of the UK and Ireland and 14% of the territory of Denmark.

In 2010, forest and other wooded land covered 178 million hectares in the EU27, or around 40% of its land area.
 

4 June (ERR)

The national blue-black-and-white flag of Estonia has its 128th birthday today, with a number of events marking the occasion across the country.

At sunrise today, representatives of the Defense League's girls’ organisation Kodutütred, girl guides and boy scouts hoisted the tricolor atop Pikk Hermann tower in Tallinn's Toompea hill. Speaker of Parliament Ene Ergma delivered a speech during the event in which she emphasised that Estonians have the responsibility of maintaining the value of the flag as it symbolises everything that the nation is striving for or has already achieved.

The blue-black-and-white tricolor was originally conceived as the flag of the Estonian Students’ Society of the University of Tartu and was first consecrated at the pastorate of the southern town of Otepää on 4 June 1884. Estonian poet Martin Lipp has famously interpreted the flag's colors as follows: blue stands for the sky; black symbolises the soil and a dark past; and white represents hope.

A parade will also be held in the flag's birthplace, Otepää, where the pageant will move from the Town Hall to the pastorate. The alumni of the Estonian Students' Society will also hold a commemorative ceremony at the local cemetery followed by a memorial service at St. Mary's Church.

For more information on the flag and other Estonian state symbols: http://estonia.eu/about-estonia/country/the-state--structure-and-symbols.html

23 August (BNS)

Representatives of the Estonian government and of the diplomatic corps will remember victims of Communism and Nazism on Thursday in a ceremony held at the War of Independence Victory Monument. The speakers at the European Day of Remembrance of Victims of Communism and Nazism will be member of the European Parliament Tunne Kelam, Defence Minister Urmas Reinsalu, and a representative of the diplomatic corps.

On the 73th anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact the traditional meeting in Hirvepark will take place in Tallinn. The nationalist Jüri Liim has registered the event and it will last from 9.00-21.00.

The Hirvepark meeting of 23 August 1987 was the first political meeting in occupied Estonia that took place simultaneously with similar meetings in Riga and Vilnius.  The speakers demanded making public the secret protocols of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and set the tone for the Estonian freedom movement.

In April 2009 the European Parliament passed a resolution that condemned totalitarian regimes, and declared 23 August the day of remembrance of their victims.

On 23 August 1939 Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and his Nazi-German colleague, Joachim von Ribbentrop, signed a pact that divided Eastern Europe between the two countries. By attacking Poland, the pact made it possible for Germany to initiate World War II and left Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania under Soviet occupation for half a century.

30 July (BNS)

Precipitation of more than 70 millimeters was recorded at the weather station of Harku in western Tallinn as of early Saturday afternoon. The exact reading at the Harku station was 70.8 millimeters, meaning that over 70 liters of water had poured down on every square meter of ground, the Estonian Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology said.

Kunda on the country's northern coast had received 49.8 millimeters, and Pakri in the northwest 36.2 millimeters of rain. Ristna on Hiiumaa Island measured 25.1 millimeters and Narva-Jõesuu in the northeast 13.1 millimeters.

The rainwater removal system in some parts of the Estonian capital Tallinn was unable to cope with the huge amounts of water, leaving several streets near the port area under as much as 50 centimeters of water around noon.

The streets flooded by masses of rainwater were Jõe, Ahtri, and Tuukri streets. In addition, parts of Tartu Road near the airport, Järvevana Road, and Paldiski Road were affected. On Paldiski Road near the hippodrome dozens of trolleybuses had to stop because the buildup of pools of water that were more than 25 centimeters deep on the street had made operation of the electricity-powered buses dangerous.
 

30 March (BNS)

On Monday the Estonian Library for the Blind will launch an online service that allows users to download and stream audio books and periodicals. All visitors of the online library will be able to search for books, browse catalogues, and study summaries without having to log in, spokespeople for the Ministry of Culture said. The service is available only to registered users of the Library for the Blind. The library serves visually impaired and print-disabled users both in Estonia and abroad.

The new service makes access to books and periodicals in audio format more convenient and helps reduce the costs related to duplicating and mailing CDs, library advisor at the Ministry of Culture Meeli Veskus said. "I believe library users abroad in particular will be very grateful for the possibility to use the online library," she added.

The Library for the Blind started to create a website that meets the needs of the visually impaired in September 2010. Last year was spent on testing the service and uploading of files began at the end of the year.

The website, which was created jointly by the library and Iceit Teenused, currently contains more than 1 700 files in Estonian and foreign languages, most of which were produced by the library.
 

30 June (BNS)

The European IT agency, initially scheduled to start work in Tallinn at the beginning of July, will under current plans go into operation in the fall. It will start work in the fall and be fully operational come December, Tove Ernst, press officer for Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom, told BNS through the European Commission representation in Estonia.

The number of officials to be employed by the agency is not yet final but there are plans to hire 75 people this year. The staff is being recruited by the European Union's personnel selection office EPSO, and competitions to find technical and administrative personnel are in progress. The competitions to fill the positions of data protection manager, security chief, and accounting officer are nearing the end as application deadline is 30 June.

Krum Garkov, a manager from Bulgaria, will head the IT agency for justice and home affairs, the council of the agency decided at its meeting here. The main priorities for the new manager are to give the final polishing touches to the agency's infrastructures, teams, and internal processes. Preparing for the takeover of the Schengen information system (SIS), the visa information system (VIS), and the asylum seekers information system (Eurodac) are also among the new manager's first tasks.

The IT agency will initially be headquartered in the European Union House in downtown Tallinn, where it will have 1 500 square meters of space at its disposal. It is expected to stay in its temporary home for two or three years until a permanent location is found. The search for a suitable location is underway.

The agency will be in charge of operational management and development of large-scale IT systems and management of the communication infrastructure in the area of the EU's internal security. It will be responsible for three major information systems -- the Schengen Information System (SIS), the Visa Information System (VIS), and the EU-wide electronic system for the identification of asylum-seekers EURODAC, as well as for future databases of justice and home affairs.

Headquartered in Tallinn, the agency will have data centres in Strasbourg, France and Sankt Johann im Pongau, Austria.
 

31 May (ERR)

Today Statistics Estonia published the first set of data obtained in the 11th population census conducted from 31 December 2011 to 31 March 2012. Compared to the previous census in 2000, the number of permanent residents in Estonia has decreased by 75,816, which is 5.5%.

By 31 March, Estonia had 693,884 women and 600,352 men permanently residing in the country. Of the enumerated permanent residents, 68.7% defined themselves as Estonians and 24.8% as Russians; 4.9% of permanent residents specified another ethnicity and 1.5% declined from specifying any ethnicity. According to the international definition, a permanent resident is a person who has lived in the country for at least a year before the census moment (31 December 2012) or intends to live in the country for at least a year.

“The preliminary results of the census confirm that the population trends that emerged after the restoration of independence have continued in Estonia,” said Ene-Margit Tiit, Head of Methodology of the Population and Housing Census commenting the figures.

In 2000, the proportion of children aged 0–14 in the population was 18%, whereas by 2011 it had declined to 15%. The proportion of people aged 65 and over has increased to 18% compared to 15% in 2000. The share of the working-age population (aged 15–65) has remained the same as in 2000, 67%. The regional concentration of the population has continued. Compared to the previous census, the populations of Harju and Tartu counties have grown and the populations of other counties have declined. 

By December 2012 at the latest the results of the Population and Housing Census will undergo a further comparison with different state registers. This allows Statistics Estonia to assess the extent of undercoverage, or the number of persons who were not enumerated. This will be a basis for determining if any revisions are needed in the population statistics. 

The complete results of the Population and Housing Census 2011 will be published over 2012 and 2013.

3 February (BNS)

The presumable life expectancy of men has grown 7.5 years during the past 16 years and this is the biggest rise in the European Union, it appears from a Eurostat study.

While in 1993 the presumable life expectancy of Estonian men at the moment of their birth was 62.3 years, by the year 2009 it had risen to 69.8 years. The presumable life expectancy of Estonian women grew from 74 to 80.2 years during the same period, which was also the biggest growth in the European Union. The smallest  growth in presumable life expectancy has been Bulgaria, where the presumable life of men grew 2.5 and that of women 2.3 years.

Although presumable life expectancy in Estonia has rapidly grown, it is still one of the shortest in Europe. Presumable life expectancy is lower only in Latvia, where it was 67.5 years in 2008. In Romania presumable life expectancy of men at the moment of their birth is as long as in Estonia, 69.8 years. Presumable life expectancy at birth is shorter than in Estonia in Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Poland.

The presumable life expectancy of men is the longest in Sweden - 79.4 years. Women can count on the longest life expectancy in France, were the figure was 85 years in 2009.
 

6 April

The new members of the Government appointed to office by the head of state yesterday took the oath of office at the third sitting of the Riigikogu today. The new, 46th Government of the Republic has thus assumed office. For the first time in the country’s history, a government was formed within just three days.

Authorised to office, on the proposal of the prime minister, by the President of the Republic, the 46th Government consists of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, Minister of Education and Research Jaak Aaviksoo, Minister of Justice Kristen Michal, Minister of Defence Mart Laar, Minister of the Environment Keit Pentus, Minister of Culture Rein Lang, Minister of Economic Affairs and Communications Juhan Parts, Minister of Agriculture Helir-Valdor Seeder, Minister of Finance Jürgen Ligi, Minister of Regional Affairs Siim Valmar Kiisler, Minister of the Interior Ken-Marti Vaher, Minister of Social Affairs Hanno Pevkur and Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet.

At the first sitting of the XII Riigikogu on the evening of 4 April, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip submitted the resignation application of the 45th Government of the Republic, informing President Toomas Hendrik Ilves. The head of state then assigned Andrus Ansip as the prime minister-elect. Yesterday morning, 5 April, Ansip gave a presentation to the Riigikogu regarding the formation of the new Government, and the Riigikogu authorised the prime minister-elect to form a government.

Having been authorised by the Riigikogu to form a government, Andrus Ansip also introduced the candidate ministers to the President, and the head of state appointed the new Government to office. Never before has a government been formed so quickly – within just three days. Government formation took four days in 2007, eleven days in 2003, eight days in 1999 and a remarkable 28 days in 1995.
 

21 March (BNS)

The Estonian parliament on Wednesday passed a government-sponsored bill of amendments to the Penal Code that introduces into the code provisions dealing with human trafficking. The bill was adopted with 91 votes for, none against and no abstentions.

The legislative measure changes the wording of the present enslavement provision to make a distinction between the notion of slavery already included in law and the notion of forced labour and other activities which do not constitute slavery but similar practices in the sense of international law and human rights. Forcing a person into prostitution is covered by the notion of enslavement, as are forcing someone to fulfil a degrading obligation or commit a crime.

Secondly, the bill introduces into law three new provisions which cover all internationally condemned kinds of human trafficking crimes - trafficking in persons for sexual exploitation, trafficking for the purpose of enslavement without sexual exploitation, and trade in human beings for organ removal.

The new law toughens punishments. For example, sexual exploitation and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal are punishable by up to seven years in prison, and the punishment for trafficking in persons is imprisonment for up to 15 years.

The bill was drafted in co-operation by the Foreign Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Social Affairs Ministry, the prosecutor's office, and several women's volunteer organisations.

21 May (BNS)

On Monday Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves signed into law the higher education reform bill he had rejected at the end of February, after the parliament passed it anew with amendments. The bill of amendments to the Universities Act, the Institutions of Professional Higher Education Act, and other laws was adopted after a second handling on 10 May with 53 votes for, 42 against and no abstentions.

The Riigikogu changed provisions of the bill pertaining to students' academic leave. The lawmakers also specified cases where a university can charge tuition from students. Full-time students in an Estonian-language curriculum can be asked to pay tuition only if they have not cumulatively completed the amount of required credit hours by the beginning of the semester.

Higher education financing regulations also were changed by leaving out a disputed clause that gave the government the authority to establish the exact conditions and procedure for deciding the amount of support.

The president vetoed the original bill on 27 February. The Riigikogu decided on 8 March to review the vetoed law rather than pass it anew unchanged.
 

8 August

Starting today iPad and iPhone users can download Statistics Estonia’s pocket-sized reference book “Minifacts about Estonia 2011” from the App Store free of charge. “Our aim is to provide those interested with a convenient and attractive opportunity to familiarise themselves with statistical data about Estonia,” said Ms. Anu Ots, Communications Chief of Statistics Estonia. “We hope that the availability of statistics on smart devices will help to reinforce the image of Estonia as an innovative e-state,” she added.

The pocket-sized reference book provides essential data on Estonia in comparison with other European Union countries. Each subject area is supplied with a text providing a brief overview of the development during the last ten years. “This is one of the most popular publications of Statistics Estonia and is used by foreign representations of Estonia all over the world to promote Estonia,” explained Ms. Ots.

You can download “Minifacts about Estonia 2011” from the App Store.

All persons who are interested can download the reference book in either Estonian, English, German, French, or Russian free of charge from Statistics Estonia’s website http://www.stat.ee/publications or place an order for a printed publication (price of the publication 3.20 euros, postal charge to be added).
 

22 January (BNS)

ESTCube-1, a cube satellite built by Estonian students, on Monday started its journey to the European spaceport near Kourou in French Guyana, from where it will be flown into orbit on board the Vega rocket in April.

The first ever satellite of Estonia tests the electric solar wind sail invented by Finnish scientist Pekka Janhunen, which may become an important milestone in the development of future technologies and Estonia's aspiration to become a space nation, Mart Noorma, teacher at the University of Tartu and senior research fellow at Tartu Observatory, told BNS.

Noorma said the popularisation of science and an educational mission was one of the main goals of the project, which already now could be counted as a success. "I'm sure that all the one hundred or so students who took part in the programme over the five years believe that it's possible to do big things here in Estonia," he said.

Noorma described the student satellite as extraordinary in terms of its scientific mission, as in collaboration with Finnish and German partners a novel electric solar wind sail, invented by Pekka Janhunen, researcher at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, will be tested. The electric sail is a new space propulsion concept which uses the solar wind momentum for producing thrust, and is seen as enabling in the future both interplanetary flights as well as removal of space litter.

ESTCube-1 is a cubesat measuring 10 x 10 x 10 cm and weighing 1.33 kilograms. The satellite's operations center will be located at Tartu Observatory.

The possibility to participate in building a real space craft brought into the project several students from Latvia, Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania, and the United States. Altogether three doctoral theses and more than 40 graduation theses are to be defended as a result of the project that got its start in 2008. a

Students from the University of Tartu, the Estonian Aviation Academy, Tallinn University of Technology, and the University of Life Sciences took part in the project that is led by researchers from Tartu Observatory and the University of Tartu. The development of different components of the satellite took place in international collaboration and articles related to the work have been published in numerous scientific publications.

14 March (ERR)

The new Reuters Web of Science list of the world's most influential research institutions has placed the University of Tartu in the top 1 percent in the fields of molecular biology and genetics. “The University of Tartu has systematically developed its molecular biology department since the 1970s [...] Development has been robust and successful,” said Toivo Maimets, director of the university's molecular and cell biology institute.

To compile its rankings, known as Essential Science Indicators, Thomson Reuters considers the number of published academic articles and references of each university. In the last 25 years, University of Tartu researchers have released 26 articles, 20 since 2010, in major academic journals, according to the university's Genome Center director, Andres Metspalu.

Previously the University of Tartu has made it into the top 1 percent in chemistry, clinical medicine, plant and animal sciences, environmental studies, social studies, biology, biochemistry, materials studies, earth sciences and technology.

23 November (BNS)

While six years ago there were no litters of bear cubs in Estonia's Lääne County, this year four females with cubs were counted there, the daily Eesti Päevaleht reported.

Peep Männil from the game monitoring centre of the Environmental Information Centre said that growth in the bear population could be noticed both in Lääne County and in the western areas of Harju County. "This was apparently due to hunting. Hunting pressure has been modest until the present and no adult female bears have been shot there," he said.

In accordance with the recent population assessment, there are 650 to 700 bears living in Estonian forests. In the previous hunting season 53 bears were shot in Estonia and this year the number of bears shot was 55.

The development plan of the protection and restraint of large carnivores foresees keeping the bear population at a level of at least 60 litters with cubs and 600 individuals.

9 May

The children’s rights organisation Save the Children has compiled its 2012 Mothers’ Index, which provides an overview of the health, education and economic situation of mothers and children in 165 countries around the world. The Mothers’ Index is made up of a Women’s Index and a Children’s Index, which examine the health, education, economic situation, wage gap, opportunities to participate in politics, etc. The Children’s Index looks at the mortality rate of children under 5 and the proportion of children getting an education.

In the Children’s Index Estonia is in 10th place, which means Estonia made it into the top 10 out of 165 countries. Estonia’s result surpassed that of countries like Finland (19th place), the USA (31st place), and England (16th place). Norway, which achieved first place in both the Women’s Index and Mothers’ Index, also ranked below Estonia on the Children’s Index, although it immediately follows Estonia in 11th place.

In the Mothers’ Index Estonia made it into the top 20 and is ranked in 17th place, scoring better than the United States. Norway was in first place and Nigeria was in last place. In the Women’s Index Estonia is in 18th place.

In Estonia there is a very low occurrence of mortality under the age of 5 (5 deaths in 1000 children), children have the opportunity to get an early start on a long educational path, and mothers are ensured 100% compensated maternity leave. While other countries may provide mothers with higher sums during maternity leave, there are few countries where mothers have the opportunity to stay home with their children for as long as Estonian women do.

In addition to low childhood morality and compensated maternity leave, the percentage of women who regularly use birth control (56%) and the long academic career of Estonian women (on average 17 years) also contributed to Estonia’s high scores. You can view the whole table here.

13 March (ERR)

After finishing first in the world for the least urban particulate pollution last year according to the WHO, Estonia has now received a clean bill of health from the European Environment Agency as far as gases and fumes are concerned.

The analysis of emissions based on 2010 data examined four primary groups – sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ammonia. Compared to the allowable limits, Estonia posted figures of 83% for SO2, 78% for VOCs, 61% for NOx and 35% for ammonia, the first three groups stemming from energy and transport sectors, the last mainly from animal farming.

Twelve countries earned black marks, with nitrogen oxides being the biggest problem. Spain exceeded the limits in three of the four categories, Germany in two. Finland was above the limit in ammonia. Eleven countries exceeded the nitrogen oxides limits, associated mostly with road transport – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden.

6 February (BNS)

The Estonian Road Administration on Monday opened for traffic a 3.5-kilometer ice road between the peninsula of Noarootsi and the northwestern town of Haapsalu. Weeklong frigid temperatures caused fast ice to form along the western coast, which allowed for the ice road to be opened. The track is the first of the six ice roads potentially opened each winter.

Running from the end of Suur-Mere street in Haapsalu to the port of Osterby on the peninsula, the road is open to vehicles with an aggregate mass of 2.5 tons. Traffic is permitted only in daylight hours. The road can be closed to traffic if ice and weather conditions change.

There is hope that an ice road between the mainland and the island of Vormsi can also be opened in the next few days, the Road Administration said. However, even with the double-digit negative temperatures in the last week of January, officials have expressed doubt whether other roads to the islands would open this year, as sea temperatures have been much warmer than usual.

31 January (ERR)

A new report commissioned by the computer security company McAfee ranks Estonia as having a reliable cyber security structure. Finland, Sweden and Israel were deemed the leaders of cyber security, all scoring 4.5 out of five. Estonia, with 4, was placed in the same group with Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, UK and the US.

“The massive denial-of-service attacks against Estonia in 2007 alerted the world to what a cyber attack might look like, although the consequences were not nearly as bad as the international press suggested,” the report said. “Many countries are now looking to Estonia for cyber security leadership, even if Canadian expert Rafal Rohozinski stresses that 'Estonia is really too small a country to be a case study,'” the report said. “But it is clearly easier to get organised in a small country.”

Since the 2007 “cyber war,” Estonia's public and private sector has further increased security, electronic signatures, backup systems and firewalls. Experts commended Estonia's secure national authentication services, which require two electronic signatures. The only other country to do this is Israel.

“The defence of critical infrastructure is now very much top of the agenda, and with 75 percent of it in private hands, much emphasis is being put on private-public partnerships,” the report said. “Estonia has also been a frontrunner in promoting international co-operation, and has cyber defence co-operation agreements with the Baltic and Nordic states.”

Estonia's claim to fame as an internet-savvy country includes having conducted the world's first e-voting in Parliamentary elections in 2005. It is also home to NATO's Co-operative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence, and the EU's new IT agency.

China, Italy, Poland, Russia were rated less favourably in the McAfee report, with Brazil, India, Romania and especially Mexico representing the weakest cyber security. Conducted by the think tank SDA, the survey was based on interviews and hundreds of subjective expert opinions.
 

29 April (BNS)

Last week the government approved Estonia’s proposals regarding the country's share in the European Union's budget for the new budgetary period, which call for spending close to 100 million euros for environmental protection and 400 million euros for the environmental sphere altogether.

Compared with the current period, when the emphasis of the use of euro funds in the environmental sphere lay in water and waste- related investments, in the new period the focus will shift to environmental protection, which has been waiting for its turn for a long time, Environment Minister Keit Pentus-Rosimannus said.

In the years 2014-2020 the focus will be primarily on preservation and restoration of diversity. Valuable habitats that serve as home to animals, birds, plants and fungi  require care. Among other things, water regime of swamps needs to be restored and spawning possibilities for fish need to be improved through taking care of oxbow lakes and building fish passes at dams.

Another important part are investments to reduce the negative impact from human activity and heal the negative effects thereof.

One of the most resource intensive fields is reducing the environmental footprint of businesses and supporting sustainable use of resources, which would get 131 million euros under current plans. The sustainable energy sector will occupy a central place in the latter, including through support for the renovation of remote heating systems and the switch to local heating, support for upgrading the thermal insulation of apartment houses.

Money to be received from the sale of carbon emission credits is to be invested in the use of biogas in transport, the pilot projects in which will be financed with EU money.

The investments are still in the phase of proposals. The Estonian ministers are scheduled to present their proposals to the Riigikogu on 8 May and they must eventually be endorsed by the European Commission.

3 December (BNS)

The ratio of research and development expenditure to Estonia's gross domestic product rose to 2.41% last year, surpassing for the first time the European Union average of 2.03%, Statistics Estonia said on Monday.

R&D expenditure totaled 384.5 million euros in 2011, nearly two-thirds more than the year before. Investments in new technology for the oil industry accounted for one third of the total, the statistical office said.

In the nonprofit institutional sectors, where the higher education sector accounts for the lion's share, outlays increased by 22% in annual comparison. Expenditures financed by the state increased at the same rate. With oil industry investments subtracted from the business enterprise sector's R&D expenditure, the growth in the remaining enterprises nonetheless remained higher than the growth in nonprofit sectors at 29%. Oil industry investments included, the growth was rather exceptional – over two times.

On 15 November Eurostat published in its public database the preliminary R&D data for 2011 in which the GERD/GDP ratio for Estonia is shown somewhat lower – 2.37%. The final results published on Monday will appear in the Eurostat database only in late summer 2013.

The marginal discrepancy does not change Estonia's seventh position in the EU member states' ranking between Slovenia and France in 2011. Without oil industry Estonia would have placed 13th in the middle of the ranking list.

26 March

OÜ Skype Technologies (Skype Eesti) and the Cultural Foundation of the President of the Republic signed a contract on 23 March confirming that Skype Estonia will finance the President of the Republic's Special Sciences Award for the next three years. The special award amount is 3 900 euros.

In the context of the President of the Republic's Special Physical Sciences Award, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, bioinformatics and gene technology are considered physical sciences. As an exception, the supervisory board of the Cultural Foundation of the President of the Republic may decide to give the award for work in another educational discipline that corresponds to the nature and intent of the special award.

The President of the Republic's Special Physical Sciences Award may be presented to people who have excelled as teachers and/or faculty members of physical sciences at any educational stage; whose students have been recognised in international competitions or achieved good results in physical sciences competitions; who have compiled physical sciences textbooks and methodological materials; or who in the course of teaching physical sciences have initiated and implemented practical innovations. Individuals who satisfy the aforementioned criteria may nominate themselves or be nominated by their employers, educational institutions, as well as associations working in the field of education.

This year's award application round will be announced in September and the award will be presented in October. The special award was established by the Cultural Foundation of the President of the Republic in 2009.

10 February (BNS)

On the basis of a study carried out on commission by the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Communications, it appears that Estonian entrepreneurs are using information and communication technology (ICT) well to make production processes more effective and more environment friendly (green ICT).

Lack of complete solutions was pointed out as the main weakness in Estonia’s case. The machines and installations for the application of software developed in Estonia are bought from other countries and complete solutions are not created in co-operation with local IT companies and installation producers, the ministry said. As a result, the study sees as its biggest challenge the development of co-operation between entrepreneurs in different spheres.

Proceeding from the above, the existence of an international co-operation network is of great importance, both for the supply of equipment as well as for the export of modified products. Due to the small size of the Estonian companies, international co-operation is often difficult, it appears from the study.

For developing the sphere the study recommends state subsidies for the promotion of Green ICT and for making investments. Proceeding from the results of the study, the ministry in co-operation with partners and interest groups will start working out a state programme.
 

2 March (BNS)

Citizens of the European Union will in all likelihood be able to cross the Schengen border at Tallinn Airport through automated passport control gates already next year, just like they can at Helsinki's Vantaa airport and at the airport of Madrid now, for instance. Documents of an international tender to buy the equipment are currently being prepared, the daily Eesti Päevaleht said.

Vello Küla, senior specialist at the Police and Border Guard Board who is responsible for the project, said that under the best case scenario the automated gates will be operational already at the end of this year. Most likely it will happen in 2013, however, he added.

The automated gate system is for people with the new style ePassport of a member state of the European Union or a country of the European Economic Area. It uses facial recognition technology to allow passengers through the border without the need to see a border officer.

Passengers with biometric passports would approach the automated gate one person at a time and insert their passport into the slot. The passenger then will have to place a finger on a fingerprint reader and let the machine perform a match of his or her face to the photograph held in the chip in the passport. If everything is all right the passenger will approach a next set of doors, place a finger on the fingerprint reader once again, and exit the gates.

Küla said the plan is to put up three machines next to one arrivals gate and three others next to one departures gate. "The number of manned gates will not become smaller," Küla said. Staffers will be on standby to help passengers use the machines.

22 August (BNS)

Thousands of bonfires are to be lit on the coasts of the Baltic Sea Saturday night as part of the Night of Ancient Bonfires initiative, in which people are invited to light a bonfire or a candle on the sea coast on the night of the last Saturday of August.

The goal is to cover the coastline with bonfires in such way that from each place at least two other fires can be seen, spokespeople for the MTÜ Rannarahva Koda (Chamber of Coastal Folk) non-profit organisation and the maritime news portal Mereblog said.

As of noon on Wednesday, 256 bonfires and over 15 300 participants had been registered on the event's Estonian website. A map on the website shows most of the fires as located on the coastline of Estonia, along with a number of fires in Latvia and Finland. Also one bonfire in Sweden and one in Denmark had been registered on the Estonian site.

The Night of Ancient Bonfires was originally an initiative to mark the 75th independence anniversary of Finland in 1992. In the years after that the custom lived on, especially in the archipelago of south-western Finland, as a local and communal farewell to summer. By now the tradition has spread, besides Finland and the Åland autonomy of Finland, to the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. The action's goal is to show the unity of coastal people and pay tribute to history and cultural heritage. In many places bonfires are also lit on the shores on inland bodies of water.

In ancient times bonfires along the Baltic coast were lit to warn of dangers. The earliest written reports about the conveyance of messages by means of bonfires date from the time of the Vikings, when a united system of warning extended from the sea to the inland. Each community was under obligation to make its contribution to the system by lighting and keeping a bonfire and strict responsibility was applied for non-fulfilment of the duty.

5 April (BNS)

Life expectancy at birth has grown significantly in Estonia over the past 16 years, fresh figures by Eurostat show. If in 1993 women in Estonia had a life expectancy of 74 years and men of 62.3 years at the moment of birth, then in 2009 the corresponding figures were 80.2 years and 69.8 years.

The life expectancy at birth rose in all member states, with the largest increases for both women and men recorded in Estonia and Slovenia, Eurostat said.

For women who had reached the age of 65 the average remaining life expectancy in 1993 was 15.7 years and for men it was 11.7 years. In 2009 women and men could expect to live 19.2 and 14 more years, respectively.

In 2009, the highest life expectancies at birth for women were observed in France (85.1), Spain (84.9), Italy (84.5 in 2008) and Cyprus (83.6), and for men in Sweden (79.4), Italy (79.1 in 2008), Spain and the Netherlands (both 78.7).

Having reached the age of 65, women in the EU27 could expect to live an additional 20.7 years and men an additional 17.2 years. As for life expectancy at birth, life expectancy at age 65 has also increased in all member states between 1993 and 2009, with the largest increases for both women and men in Ireland.
 

22 March (BNS)

Ene Ergma from the Pro Patria and Res Publica Union was re-elected speaker of the Estonian parliament on Thursday. Ergma collected 53 votes in the 101-member chamber. The other candidate, Eiki Nestor from the opposition Social Democratic Party, was backed by 42 legislators.

The speaker was elected by secret ballot. Participating in the vote were 96 members of the Riigikogu. One ballot paper was rejected because no candidate was ticked off.

The speaker's mandate takes effect immediately after the result of the vote is announced. Ergma has so far chaired parliament for a total of eight years.

17 April (BNS)

Estonia ascended two notches to 22nd place in the World Economic Forum's (WEF's) Global Information Technology Report 2013, which also highlighted shortcomings in Estonia's ICT innovation system.

Estonia placed 31st in the category of political and business environment, 24th in infrastructure and 25th in usage of IT. In terms of economic and social impacts from IT, Estonia ranked 15th.

Once again, Estonia ranks as the highest Central and Eastern European country in 22nd place, the report says. The strong vision of its government, by which it placed 23rd, and its success in developing ICTs as one of the critical industries for the local economy continues to yield good impacts, both in economic and social terms, where the country shows one of the strongest performances across the globe.

Following the example of the Nordic countries, Estonia has managed to develop a strong ICT infrastructure and encourage a strong uptake by citizens, by businesses in their transactions with other businesses and the government, and by the government, which continues to expand its offerings of online services.

Going forward, the country could benefit even further by strengthening its innovation system, which still suffers from some weaknesses and limits the private sector's capacity to innovate and thus benefit from the full potential that ICTs can offer, the report says.

The table of rankings for 2013 was topped by Finland, followed by Singapore, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, Denmark, the United States, and Taiwan. Estonia was preceded by Japan in 21st place and followed by Qatar in 23rd place. Lithuania ranked 32nd and Latvia 41st. Russia was ranked 54th and Romania was the worst scoring EU member state in 75th.

At the bottom of the table, places 142 to 144 went to Chad, Sierra Leone and Burundi.

The Global Information Technology Report (GITR) series has been published by the World Economic Forum in partnership with INSEAD, one of the world's leading and largest graduate business schools, since 2002.

10 February (BNS)

Two official ice roads were open to traffic in Estonia on Friday, according to information available from the national road authority's traffic information website.

The track on the sea ice from the town of Haapsalu to Noarootsi peninsula on the opposite coast of the Bay of Haapsalu is open to vehicles weighing up to 2.5 tons until 5:30 p.m. The track is 3.5 kilometers long.

The second ice road now open is from the port of Rohuküla on the mainland to the nearby island of Vormsi, having a length of 10.2 kilometers.

In all there are six ice roads charted by Estonia's National Road Administration that are opened when ice conditions permit. Last winter all six roads were in operation for at least some time.
 

2 June

Today in Vabaduse Square at the opening of the World Day event, which was held for the eighth time this year, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet emphasised that every child has the right to a decent and dignified life regardless of where in the world he or she is born. “Therefore children and education are one of the most important areas in Estonia’s development co-operation and humanitarian aid activities,” he said.

Foreign Minister Paet stated that children’s situation is complicated in many countries of the world, and it is the job of the international community to stand for children’s rights and improve their situation. “For example, last winter Estonia gave humanitarian aid support to a UNICEF project in Afghanistan, through which opportunities were found for over half a million Afghan students and 12 thousand teachers to continue an uninterrupted school year during the cold winter months,” said Paet.

The foreign minister added that as of this year it is possible for all Estonians to help improve the situation of children in Afghanistan. “With the support of the Foreign Ministry the NPO Mondo has established the support programme Change the World [Muuda maailma], through which donations can be made for buying school supplies for Afghan children in need,” said Paet. “We must remember that every change starts with small steps. In the end every little donation becomes part of a larger sum with which it is possible to do a lot of good.”

Paet stated that this year Estonia has, through UNICEF, given humanitarian aid to improve the situation of children in South Sudan, Chad, and the Republic of Central Africa. “Recently Estonia also carried out projects aimed at children in Eastern Partnership states,” said Paet. “Based on Estonia’s example, in May this year a traffic teaching area was opened for Georgian schoolchildren and training sessions on entrepreneurship and starting a company was carried out for students in Moldova,” Paet said as examples of development co-operation projects that are geared towards increasing children’s safety and well-being.

World Day, a family event that is taking place for the eighth time this year, has the goal of increasing awareness of development co-operation and global problems and giving an overview of the activities of the Estonian state and NGOs in these fields. Within the framework of World Day, various organisations from Estonia and abroad will introduce their activities, workshops and discussion groups will take place, opinion leaders and experts in the development co-operation field will speak, world music will be performed on the main stage, and films will be screened.

Each year the World Day event focuses on a specific subject. This year, the focus is on children living in developing countries. Every person must have an equal opportunity for a decent and dignified life regardless of where he or she is born. We can all do our part to help make this a reality.

6 March (BNS)

Registration started on Wednesday for the day of civil actions under the title Let's Do It that will take place this year on 4 May, the first Saturday of May as usual. All people and organisations in Estonia wishing to take part in the event are welcome to register on the website at www.teemeara.ee.

The action's leader, Estonian Fund for Nature board member Tarmo Tüür, said he was glad that the national cleanup day was becoming an annual day of caring. "The first Saturday of May has emerged as a day that unites Estonia, unites town and country, unites different generations, different walks of life, different views on life, people of different ethnicities," Tüür said.

A starter kit will once again be distributed to all event leaders this year containing first aid equipment, a supply of work gloves, a can of paint, a crisis manual, a badge for the event leader, a handful of chocolates, a few stickers, a CD with stories from previous events, and a special newspaper focusing on pieces of advice and entertainment.

On last year's cleanup day, 5 May 2012, 1 241 events were held all over Estonia and 32 000 people took part in them.

5 January (BNS)

In a Facebook campaign titled “One Hundred Reasons Why it is Good to Live in Estonia”, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves is urging people to look for positive rather than negative aspects of Estonia. By Tuesday nearly 150 users of the portal had added their thoughts to those of the president on the campaign page. It is possible to give votes to the most popular ideas.

"I like our nature and culture, our frame of mind and traditions. I like our young people, whose pluck and entrepreneurship intermingle with foresighted maturity and positive criticism. I like Estonian musicians, poets, sportsmen, scientists and designers, entrepreneurs, farmers and employees," the president singled out some examples of what he saw as good in Estonia.

As of Wednesday the three most popular ideas were the ID card, gentle natural forces, and the scientific worldview.

The president's appeal to find 100 reasons why it is good to live in Estonia will last by the end of January. An earlier campaign launched by Ilves was Bringing Talents Back Home.

27 December (BNS)

The weather has never before been as warm in Estonia on 27 December as on that day this year, data of the Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology show.

Daily warmth records were already surpassed everywhere on Monday, weather forecaster Merike Merilain told BNS. "The previous record for 27 December in Tallinn, 5.8 degrees Celsius, has definitely been beaten already - 5.9 degrees in Tartu, 4.6 degrees in Narva and 4.9 degrees in Pärnu should be upset as well," she said. "Of course, all the records were beaten yesterday [Monday] as well."

It is too soon to say anything about the average air temperature record for December, Merilain said. So far 11.5 degrees and 10.7 degrees are the highest temperatures recorded during this month.

Before noon Tuesday 8.8 degrees was measured in Tallinn, 9.2 degrees in Tartu, 8.3 degrees in Pärnu and 9.4 degrees in Narva.
 

1 April (BNS)

Tallinn Zoo will get two black rhinoceroses from the zoos of Kreefeld and Berlin, Germany, and the rhino unit is to be opened to the public in mid-May, the city government announced on Monday.

International co-ordinators have decided to allocate two black rhinoceroses from Kreefeld and Berlin to the Tallinn Zoo. Zoos that have joined the global network for animal exchange programs give animals to each other free of charge regardless of the animals' actual value, spokespeople told BNS.

The transport of the animals has to be paid for by the recipient. The Tallinn city government decided at an extraordinary meeting on Monday to allocate from its contingency reserve 16 200 euros from the city government's cultural heritage department to cover the transport costs.

Preparations related the transport of the rhinos have been completed and the animals will be transported in the first week of May. Tallinn's Zoo's rhino unit will be opened to visitors as part of the events of Tallinn Day, 15 May.

20 January (BNS)

Nearly three quarters of residents of the Estonian capital Tallinn use the internet every day and people mostly go online at home, it appears from a survey taken for the town chancellery by Turu-Uuringute AS.

Of the residents of the capital city who use the internet, 96% have an internet connection at home. Seventy-four % of the respondents have landline broadband and most home users are attached to one of the three main internet service providers: Elion (33%), Starman (28%), and STV (25%). In cable television STV is the market leader, providing the service to 35% of the households interviewed, with Starman second at 34% and Elion third at 22%.

When asked to name the public services they had accessed via the internet, 78% said they had communicated with a public institution via e-mail and 70% named filing an application and paying for a service online.

The most active group in using various e-services and channels to manage their day-to-day affairs are Estonian-speakers of ages 20-29 with higher education and higher income who have jobs or are studying.

As part of the survey looking at people's satisfaction with the capital city's public services, Turu-uuringute AS interviewed 1 510 residents aged 15 and above.
 

5 December (BNS)

The Estonian web constable project earned a 5 000-euro prize as the best crime prevention project in Europe.

The theme of the best European crime prevention project was community-centered police work in the contraction and prevention of juvenile delinquency, family violence and breaks-in, the Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) told BNS.

Estonia's web constables helps to improve security in the online social realm.Estonia nominated the PPA web constable project, which was awarded a prize of 5 000 euros at a gala event in Cyprus last week on 5 December for its innovative approach and activity directed at young people.

Web Constable Maarja Punak said the prize confirmed that the direction of communication opened in social media by the police was necessary and right. "For young people it is simpler to communicate with a web policeman with a face and a name than filling out an application in an official style. At the same time, I can see in my work that the worries described are extremely serious and there are many people who need help. In order to reach more people, the PPA is planning to extend the PPA web policeman's activity also into the Russian-language web environment," Punak said.

Interior Minister Ken-Marti Vaher said that the award for the web policeman's idea was recognition for Estonia as an e-state, as well as for community-based police work. "It is reasonable that the police help people based on risks and actual needs, communicating with the people exactly where the people are. If a large part of communication takes place in a virtual environment, then the environment must be safe," Vaher said.

22 December (BNS)

Siim Sikkut, who has been working as an economic affairs expert at the Estonian Development Fund since 2008, has been chosen for the post of information and communications technology advisor co-ordinating Estonia's IT policy.

Sikkut's office will be at the State Chancellery's bureau for strategy and his first day on the new job will be 19 March, spokesperson for the State Chancellery Kristiina Tiimus told BNS.

In his current job at the Estonian Development Fund, Sikkut is responsible for monitoring trends in global business and economy and analysing the development of emerging markets. He is in charge of a monitoring project on future opportunities for business and economic ties between Estonia an India.

Sikkut holds a BA in economic policy and international affairs from Princeton and he obtained his MA in business administration, with focus on China, from the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London.

The new national IT policy advisor is tasked with co-ordinating the work of ministries in implementing and developing the government's ICT policy, advising the government and the prime minister, promoting co-operation between international ICT and digital domestic market, and putting forward priorities to the government for the drafting of new strategic plans.

The appointment of a single official to co-ordinate Estonia's IT policy has been set out in the ruling two-party coalition's government program agreed this spring.
 

30 November

A study of country brand strength carried out by the international consultancy FutureBrand has found that Estonia still has a relatively weak image globally, but that its star is rising.

The company's annual Country Brand Index, which combines data polled from frequent travellers and opinion leaders with the views of experts in various sectors, rated Estonia 66th out of the 113 countries covered. Estonia's result marks a gain of 23 places compared to last year, putting its brand strength just ahead of Panama and Tanzania, and just behind Jamaica and China.

The study rated countries in five areas: value systems, quality of life, business environment, heritage and culture, and tourism. Canada came out in the top position for the second year running, followed by Switzerland and New Zealand. Iran, Zimbabwe and Pakistan ended in the rear positions.