Estonian Review 17 - 23 September 2010

FOREIGN MINISTER, PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK FOR UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
FOREIGN NEWS
DOMESTIC NEWS
DEFENCE NEWS
ECONOMIC NEWS
CULTURAL NEWS

FOREIGN MINISTER, PRESIDENT IN NEW YORK FOR UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Foreign Minister Paet Speaks on Millennium Development Goals

21 September - Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, who is in New York for a working visit, gave a speech in the UN General Assembly on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In addition to the Estonian foreign minister, others who will be speaking at the conference dedicated to the Millennium Development Goals include UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Robert Zoellick, IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and UN Development Chief Helen Clark.
Paet stressed that the ability to achieve the goals set for the year 2015 and ensure stability in the world are constantly coming under more doubt, since the schedule that was agreed upon internationally is not being followed. “We must consider that a third of the world’s poor live in unstable states and currently over 42 million people are displaced by conflict. Confronting our economic difficulties is necessary in order to increase the stability of the whole world,” Paet said, emphasising the significance of achieving the goals. “This is why we should focus our primary development co-operation resources on conflict zones—alleviating the situations of the people who live there and guaranteeing their human rights,” said the Estonian foreign minister.
Paet stressed that it is well-focused resources that will help to increase educational and health care opportunities, as well as the availability of clean drinking water. A rise in education would in turn help with awareness of serious diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and AIDS. “Today’s information and communications technology advancements also play a role in achieving the MDGls,” Paet stressed. As an example, Paet described the development co-operation projects through which Estonia introduces its e-state and e-government projects and helps to establish similar systems in Georgia, Moldova, Afghanistan, Palestine, and many other countries.
The Millennium Development Goals programme is the first large-scale programme aimed at reducing poverty, inequality and discrimination.

President Ilves Chairs Development Assistance Round Table Summit at UN

23 September - In his opening speech at the development assistance round table summit at the United Nations on Wednesday, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves emphasised that regardless of the economic crisis, all assistance package participants must stick to their earlier promises and deliver the support programmes and loans that were devised for development purposes in developing countries. According to the Estonian head of state, the success of assistance packages depends on solving two main issues. “First of all, developing countries must fight the setbacks that have been caused by the global economic crisis and improve their administrative capacities, promoting co-operation between the state and entrepreneurs. Secondly, the assisting countries must go on with fulfilling their commitments, supporting the implementation of programmes, and ensuring the delivery of assistance as earlier agreed,” said the President of the Republic in his opening speech.
In 2000, the UN agreed upon the Millennium Development Goals, which are to be fulfilled through six framework programmes. Intermediate reviews are made in New York of the achievements of these framework programmes since their launching.
“Estonia was given the task of chairing one of the six high-level round tables. One reason why Estonia was given this honour is its credibility in the fulfilment of its commitments, including the promises made in the sphere of development assistance,” President Ilves said.

EU Foreign Ministers Discuss Afghanistan with Secretary of State Clinton

22 September - At the meeting of European Union and NATO foreign ministers organised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in New York, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that the further enlargement of NATO must be addressed at the next NATO summit and that co-operation in Afghanistan is a very important part of European Union-USA relations.
Paet stressed that during the NATO summit in November it is necessary for NATO to express its outlook on further enlargement very clearly, including in regards to Georgia’s prospects for joining NATO. “Taking into account the fact that Ukraine’s NATO-oriented activities have changed, we can no longer address Georgia and Ukraine in the same way in the context of NATO enlargement,” said Paet. “We must support Georgia’s confidence. This is essential for ensuring a safer and more stable Europe,” he said.
Paet also noted that the situation in Afghanistan demands closer co-operation between the EU and the USA. “EU-USA co-operation in building up Afghanistan and in transferring the responsibility for security over to the Afghans must be addressed at the upcoming EU-USA summit,” said the Estonian foreign minister. “It is also extremely important for co-operation between NATO and the EU to be more effective than before,” Paet added.
At the meeting of US Secretary of State Clinton and the European Union foreign ministers in New York, other topics addressed included Serbia-Kosovo relations and the EU membership prospects of those countries, the international community’s aid to Pakistan, and Israel-Palestine discussions.

Border Queue Problem Discussed at Meeting of EU Ministers with Russian Foreign Minister

23 September - At their meeting in New York, the foreign ministers of the NATO member states and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed NATO-Russia co-operation in Afghanistan, the fight against piracy, developments in arms control, missile defence, and the situations in Georgia and Moldova. At the similar meeting held between the European Union and Russian foreign ministers, topics of discussion were EU-Russia relations, including the border queue problem.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, who participated in the meeting, stated that close NATO-Russia and European Union-Russia co-operation is necessary, but we cannot pretend to ignore some considerable differences of opinion, like the treatment of Georgia’s territorial integrity and a resolution for the Transnistria issue. “While we continue to move forward with practical co-operation in our relations with Russia, we must also continue to address our undeniable differences. We cannot back down from the principle of Georgia’s territorial integrity or the necessity to remove Russian troops from Transnistria,” Paet emphasised.
During the EU-Russia foreign ministers’ meeting Foreign Minister Paet also brought up the issue of border queues, which demands a quick solution. “Queues with a wait time of tens of hours at the border between the EU and Russia are not acceptable,” he stated.
Another topic discussed at the meeting was the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE) and its coming into force. The Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty is one of three documents forming the basis for arms control in Europe, along with the Vienna Document and the Open Skies Treaty signed in 1999. Estonia is not a party to the treaty, but supports NATO’s unified position to restore the conventional arms control regime in order to increase the security of European nations.

FOREIGN NEWS

Estonia Makes Contribution to Reconciliation Process in Afghanistan

19 September - Estonia is making a contribution to the implementation of the Afghan government’s Peace and Reintegration Programme, allocating half a million kroons (31 955 EUR) for the programme.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet noted that the Afghan government’s Peace and Reintegration Programme was approved during the Kabul Conference that took place during the summer. “The goal of the programme is to provide help for the political reconciliation process and for reintegrating rebels into the society of Afghanistan,” said Paet. “The Kabul Conference was where the Afghans confirmed that they are ready, with the support of international aid, to accept responsibility for the future of their nation. We want for Afghanistan to fulfil the promises made at the Kabul Conference, and in the name of this goal Estonia has made a contribution to the international support,” stated the Estonian foreign minister. At the Kabul Conference in July of this year, Afghanistan stated that it would like to accept final security responsibility for its nation in 2014.
The Foreign Ministry is supporting the Afghan government’s Peace and Reintegration programme with funds allocated from the Foreign Ministry’s budget for development and humanitarian aid, and the contribution was made into the fund co-ordinated by Great Britain.

Prime Minister Ansip Met with Internal Markets and Services Commissioner

17 September - Today Prime Minister Andrus Ansip met with Internal Markets and Services Commissioner of the European Commission Michael Barnier in Stenbock House to discuss issues relating to the further development of the internal market of the European Union. The internal market is one of the support structures of the EU and its purpose is to guarantee free movement of goods, persons, services and capitals between member states.
Prime Minister Ansip told Commissioner Barnier about the concerns Estonia has about the current situation on the internal market of the EU. The prime minister believes that the single market is far from a functioning one in the areas of e-commerce and e-services.
“Instead of a fragmented market, Estonia would like to see a single market with as few differences as possible,” said Ansip.
In order to resolve the problems, the European Commission is planning to submit an ambitious action plan for establishment of a truly harmonised market in October. “We have prepared a thorough action plan, which must be carried out in the next two years,” said Barnier. “We believe that a single internal market is good for all citizens.”
Estonia would like to see the internal market launched as a digital market. “The absence of a digital single market is one of the main factors that reduces the competitiveness of the European Union,” said Ansip. “In this day and age, digital solutions should be considered in the development of every new area and in the review of every old one.”
Barnier agreed that the digital aspect is extremely important in the further development of the internal market and it has therefore been widely considered in the action plan. The commissioner said that Estonia could help make the development of a digital internal market a priority for the next presiding countries of the European Union.

Estonian Ambassador Spoke About Nuclear Co-operation at International Atomic Energy Agency Conference

22 September - Estonian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Eve-Külli Kala gave a speech today during the 54th IAEA General Conference in Vienna. Her speech addressed the peaceful use of nuclear technology, the future of international nuclear co-operation, and Estonia’s contribution to technical co-operation within the IAEA.
Ambassador Kala emphasised that barring the spread of nuclear weapons and preventing the misuse of nuclear technology, while still advancing the peaceful use of nuclear technology, is a complicated task. “The nuclear safety and security requirements necessary for developing nuclear energy can only be guaranteed through comprehensive co-operation with the IAEA,” she added.
Kala stated that every state has the right to choose a suitable energy strategy that would be environmentally friendly and safe. “In making its choices, Estonia dutifully takes into consideration all of its climate and pollution-related responsibilities,” the ambassador noted.
Eve-Külli Kala also thanked the IAEA for helping Estonia to advance radiation therapy and nuclear medicine, procure equipment, and train specialists. “Thanks to the valuable skills and experiences acquired through our co-operation, Estonia is now offering its expertise to other nations,” said the ambassador.
Within the framework of the IAEA General Conference, Ambassador Kala will sign the agreement outlining Estonia-IAEA technical co-operation for the years 2010-2015 and meet with IAEA Deputy Director General Ana Maria Cetto, with whom she will discuss Estonia-IAEA co-operation in radiation protection and safety. “We are happy to continue our co-operation with the IAEA, which allows us to guarantee everyone timely medical aid in the fight against cancer and in diagnosing illnesses,” said the Estonian ambassador.

Foreign Ministry Supports Estonian Surgeons in Gambia

17 September - The Foreign Ministry is supporting the participation of Estonian surgeons in a humanitarian mission in Gambia. The goal of the Estonia surgeons departing for the mission in October is to demonstrate surgeries and create the basis for a surgery rotation to ensure the training of local surgeons.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet noted that the Gambian Ministry of Health has issued an official request for the Operation Hernia Humanitarian Mission to be sent to Gambia, and three medical experts from Estonia who requested to participate will be going to Africa for the mission. “The accessibility of medicine in Africa is extremely low. The population of the African nations together is nearly three times greater than that of the United States, but only 3% of the world’s medical workers work in that part of the world,” Foreign Minister Paet said, emphasising the importance of the surgeons’ contribution.
The Operation Hernia Humanitarian Mission sends surgeons to operate on hernia patients in less developed but relatively safe areas of Africa. Over four years, missions have primarily done work in Takoradi and Carpenter in Ghana. In 2010 activities were expanded to Cameroon, Nigeria, Mongolia and Ecuador. The missions generally last 1-2 weeks and the surgeons, who are members of the European Hernia Society, use equipment that has been brought along from their home countries. The surgeons participating in the missions in less developed but relatively safe areas of Africa come from all over the world and do the work voluntarily pro bono during their vacation time.
Surgery was only recently been added to the list of potentially funded priorities by aid organisations (like the Disease Control Priorities Project). During the mission in Africa, the Estonian doctors would like to focus on treating hernia patients.

President of the Republic Accepted Credentials from Ambassadors of Finland, Norway

17 September - Today President Toomas Hendrik Ilves met in Kadriorg with the ambassadors of Finland and Norway, who presented their letters of credence to the head of state. “It is symbolic and characteristic of the inter-connected relations between Estonia and Finland that the new ambassador of Finland is presenting his letter of credence on the very same day as the opening of the Estonian House in Helsinki,” said President Ilves when meeting with Ambassador of Finland Aleksi Härkönen, the former foreign affairs advisor to the Finnish head of state.
“This demonstrates the modernisation of our relations in the same way that the new Viro Centre is a new generation Estonian House, which will help to introduce Estonia, promote exports, acquire investments, and promote Estophilia. Relations between Estonia and Finland are focused on the future and our shared goals,” said the Estonian head of state, recalling that next year both Tallinn and Turku will be the Cultural Capitals of Europe.
President Ilves and Ambassador Härkönen, who have know each other since 1993 when both were employed in the Washington embassies of their respective countries, also discussed regular co-operation. The Estonian head of state said that Estonia and Finland together are role models for closer co-operation in the Baltic Sea region. “Let us both prepare for next year, when Finland will be the presiding country of NB8 and the Nordic Council of Ministers, while Estonia is presiding over the Council of the Baltic Sea States.”
In his meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Lise Nicoline Kleven Grevstad, President Ilves thanked Norway for supporting a number of important projects in Estonia, the opening of the SOS Children’s Village in Põltsamaa being among the most recent.
The Estonian head of state described Norway as “Estonia’s strong partner in NATO, as it shares our views of the new strategic concept for the future of the alliance.”
The Estonian head of state offered his congratulations to Norway for the conclusion of the border negotiations with Russia, which lasted for 40 years and have now resulted in the signing of a border agreement between the two countries.

Estonian Ambassador to Czech Republic Presents Credentials

18 September - The new Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Czech Republic Lembit Uibo presented his credentials to Czech President Václav Klaus. During their conversation following the ceremony, Ambassador Lembit Uibo and President Václav Klaus discussed Estonia-Czech bilateral relations. They acknowledged that constructive and positive communication exists between the two countries. Lembit Uibo stressed that there is potential for further development in Estonia-Czech relations. They also thoroughly discussed the economic difficulties that have recently fallen over Europe, and the Estonian ambassador described the background of Estonia’s transition to the euro.
Lembit Uibo was born on 27 June 1971. In 2001 Ambassador Uibo defended his master’s thesis in European and comparative law at Maastricht University. In 1999 he graduated from the master’s programme for international and European relations at the University of Amsterdam, and in 1998 he completed the Estonian School of Diplomacy specialising in international relations and European integration.
Lembit Uibo began doing diplomatic work in 1999 in the Foreign Ministry’s European Union law division, where his responsibilities were to consult on law-related accession negotiations with the European Union and prepare the Accession Treaty with the European Union. From 2003-2004 Uibo was a counsellor to the European Union law division and a representative of the state in the European Court of Justice. Prior to assuming his current position, Lembit Uibo was the director of the Foreign Ministry’s European Union Court division and Estonia’s representative to the European Court of Justice. Ambassador Uibo speaks English, Russian, French, and Finnish.

Estonian Ambassador to Italy Presents Credentials

23 September - Estonian Ambassador to the Italian Republic Merike Kokajev presented her credentials to Italian President Georgio Napolitano.
In the conversation following the credentials-presenting ceremony, Estonian Ambassador Merike Kokajev and Italian President Georgio Napolitano acknowledged that bilateral relations have been good and friendly over the years, but there is always room for development. “We need to develop economic relations between Estonia and Italy, and high-level visits would certainly help to achieve this,” stated Ambassador Kokajev.
Italian President Napolitano expressed interest in the current situation in Estonia’s economy and was informed in detail about Estonia’s transition to the euro. Estonian Ambassador Kokajev confirmed that the final preparations for adopting the euro are going according to plan and as of 1 January Estonia will be the 17th member of the euro zone.
Merike Kokajev was born in Tartu in 1956 and graduated from Leningrad State University with a degree in French language and literature. Kokajev has been working for the Foreign Ministry since 1991. Ambassador Kokajev has worked in the protocol department, the embassy in Brussels, Estonia’s permanent representation in Geneva, the Foreign Ministry’s division for international organisations, and Estonia’s permanent representation to the UN. From 2005-2007 Kokajev was a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Prior to assuming her current position, Merike Kokajev worked in the Foreign Ministry’s state protocol department as the director of the division for ceremonies and visits. Since 2010, Kokajev has also been the ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to the Most Serene Republic of San Marino and the Republic of Malta, residing in Italy. Ambassador Kokajev speaks English, Russian, and French.

DOMESTIC NEWS

Trichet Presents Symbolic Euro Star to Bank of Estonia President

19 September (BNS) - At a festive function on Sunday evening, President of the European Central Bank Jean- Claude Trichet handed over a symbolic euro star to President of the Bank of Estonia Andres Lipstok, simultaneously kicking off the promotional campaign of euro bills and their security elements. The euro star is a keepsake given to each country in the euro zone. Lipstok said at the function that Estonia would replace its dear solid Estonian kroon with another solid currency, the euro. He said that people in Estonia would have to give up the Estonian kroons and their beloved designs and start using the common paper money circulating in the euro zone countries, but the euro coin designed by an Estonian artist would continue to carry the Estonian identity. Trichet said adoption of the euro was an historic event for each country that had acceded to the euro and for the whole system and that co-operation with Estonia in preparation for the transition to the euro has been great. Trichet stated that Estonia's accession to the euro zone shows that the system is not a closed one and that other EU countries that sustainably meet the criteria are welcome to join. During a news conference in Tallinn today, President of the European Central Bank Trichet called Estonia's fiscal policy achievements in fighting the crisis the best not only in Europe, but in the whole world. The adjustment was very hard but Estonia has achieved an excellent result, Trichet said. He also stressed more than once that Estonia and the euro zone alike have a lot of work to do. Among other things, the central bank has to ensure the enlargement of the euro zone, Trichet said. The bigger the system, the more complicated it is to achieve the goals.
He said in answer to a question about Estonia's role in the euro area that the governor of the Bank of Estonia will be taking part in decision-making with his recommendations and analysis. He underlined that the head of each central bank of the euro area has one vote in making decisions concerning the zone regardless of the size of his or her country. The president of Poland's central bank, Marek Belka, said his country is envious of Estonia's entry into the euro zone, in which Estonia will be the strongest member. On the whole, new members have better opportunities for acting within the euro area, he observed.
Estonia will adopt the euro in January at the current exchange rate of 15.6466 Estonian kroons to one euro. In the first two weeks of the new year, both the euro and the Estonian kroon will be accepted as means of payment in Estonia. After that, the euro will be the only legal currency in Estonia.

Three Quarters of Estonia’s Population Used Internet in First Quarter

17 September (BNS) - In the first quarter of 2010, almost 75% of the Estonian population used a computer and the Internet, three percentage points more than in the first quarter of 2009, Statistics Estonia said on Friday. The share of Internet users among the total population of the respective age groups was 74.1%, while the share of persons using a computer was 74.6%.
While among persons aged 16-34 almost all used computers and the Internet, the percentage of Internet users decreases with age. Half of the residents aged 55-64 and a quarter of residents aged 65-74 used a computer and the Internet in the first quarter of 2010. The percentage of computer and Internet users among persons aged 65-74 increased ten percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year.
The most popular activities conducted via the Internet were the reading of web publications, using of Internet banking, e-mailing, and looking for information. Of Internet skills, using Internet telephony has increased the most, with the percentage of Internet users aged 16-74 who used the Internet to make phone calls doubling during the last three years. While almost all Internet users had used a search engine and attached files to e-mails, every third Internet user had used peer-to-peer file sharing programmes and only every sixth had created a webpage.
The use of Internet by enterprises has remained on the same level for the past three years. Almost all enterprises with 10 and more persons employed used computers and the Internet; nine out of ten had a broadband connection. The use of mobile connection has increased – in 2009 mobile Internet was used by two out of ten and this year by three out of ten enterprises.
Statistics Estonia has conducted the survey of information technology usage among persons aged 16-74 and in households as an annex to the Labour Force Survey since 2005. The survey is carried out in the second quarter; the reference period being the first quarter. In 2010, 4 000 persons participated in the survey.

IT College to Start Training Cyber Defence Specialists

23 September (BNS) - A course for the training of cyber defence specialists will be set up at the Estonian Information Technology College with support by European Structural Funds; the first interested people can register themselves into study groups starting in November.
An applied cyber defence study module was first set up for administrators of local governments' and business sector IT systems, the IT college said. The module is intended for second and third year students and people in in-service training who have experience in the administration if IT systems. "The duration of the project is five years. During that period more than 80 proficiency level students and more than 100 IT system administrators will acquire the necessary skills," project leader of the study module Signe Ventsel said. She said that as a result of the training the cyber defence security of the IT systems of the Estonian public sector would grow, and e-services meant for the public would become more secure.
Information security specialists of the state Information Systems Development Centre have been involved in the project called into existence in co-operation with higher education schools and companies. The cyber defence study module will be regularly updated with the assistance of CERT Eesti (Computer Emergency Response Team Estonia) and of private companies, which will make it possible for specialists who have passed the syllabus two or more years ago to update their knowledge. An innovative distance lab for carrying out cyber defence studies will be created in the framework of the project.
Toomas Lepik, an information security expert of CERT Estonia, said that the biggest benefit of the project was that IT it trains specialists who already work. "In our daily work we see a need for upgrading of IT specialists who administer systems of the state and of the private sector. The systems have become more and more complicated in pace with the development of technology. IT specialists have to be in line with the most recent developments in the information security sphere in order to protect their own systems and those of their users.
The cyber defence study model relies on the cyber security strategy for the years 2008-2013 that was set up by the Defence Ministry. Students of the IT College and IT specialists of local governments and businesses can acquire knowledge in the study module created by the project.

DEFENCE NEWS

Estonian Reconnaissance Unit Returns to Southern Afghanistan

22 September (BNS) - Estonia has returned its reconnaissance unit to Afghanistan. It previously had to be pulled out due to British opposition, the daily Postimees reported.
Defence Minister Jaak Aaviksoo said that the decision to dispatch the reconnaissance unit to Afghanistan had been made and if they had not arrived in the country yet, they soon will. Because of the dispatch of the reconnaissance unit, it is not necessary to ask for a bigger mandate than the present 170 men from the parliament. Aaviksoo said that it was a political agreement that either this year or next year no more than 170 men would be dispatched to Afghanistan.
The Estonians will start working in Southern Afghanistan and will operate in the subordination of US forces where their duties will be ordinary reconnaissance activity - communication with the local people and collection and analysis of information, Postimees reported.
The other Estonian units in Afghanistan operate under British command.
The limit of dispatching Estonian soldiers to serve in Afghanistan is 170. Most of them are serving under British command in Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan, but some of them are also in the capital, Kabul.

Defence Spending to Grow to 1.9 Percent of GDP

23 September (BNS) - Estonian defence expenditure will rise to 1.9% of GDP next year; the country is hoping to meet its promise to NATO by bringing defence expenditure to two percent of GDP in 2012.
According to the next year's state budget bill, 4.1 billion kroons (EUR 262 mln), 4.5% of the total expenditure, will be spent on state defence next year. Compared with this year the defence expenditure will increase by 321.9 million kroons, in order to bring defence spending up to 1.9% of GDP. This year defence spending accounted for 1.86% of GDP.
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said in June that Estonia's defence spending would apparently rise to 2% of GDP in 2012.

Estonian Infantry Brigade Exercises Online Co-operation with Danish Division

20 September (BNS) - The headquarters of the 1st Estonian Infantry Brigade, along with the subunits of command posts, will this week take part in the Cool Lion 2010 online exercise to train operations in the composition of a division.
In the framework of the exercise to last from Monday until Friday, command posts of the Infantry Brigade headquarters and its subunits will exercise the carrying out of combat operations in the subordination of a conditional Baltic Division. The operation of the unit will be played out in the simulation centre of the Defence College by means of the JCATS battles simulation program.
The 1st Infantry Brigade, along with Danish and Lithuanian units, has been connected with the Danish Division since last August. It is a training link as a result of which national headquarters and units achieve cooperability and are capable of operating in joint operations.
The first joint exercise of the Estonian Brigade and the Danish Division after their linking was the Cool Lion 2009 joint exercise carried out a year ago. Contrary to last year, when the training team of the Danish advisory and training centre was in charge of the exercise, this year the Cool Lion exercise will be carried out by the ground forces headquarters this year.
Nearly 160 Estonian and about 30 Danish soldiers will take part in the exercise.
The 1st Infantry Brigade is the main manoeuvring centre of the Defence Forces and most of the units trained during their compulsory service belong to it. The Scouts Battalion of professional soldiers also belongs to the composition of the brigade. The Danish Division is the biggest military unit of the Danish land forces and one of the four divisions belonging to the Northeast Corps of NATO. In addition to the Infantry Brigade the Iron Wolf Lithuanian Infantry Brigade is connected with the Danish Division.
The JCATS Joint Conflict and Tactical Simulation system makes it possible to simulate real combat situations on the basis of computers. By means of a simulator mainly headquarters and commanders are trained, and they play through different tactical situations where a brigade or a battalion carries out an attack, defence or some other combat operation.

ECONOMIC NEWS

Prime Minister, Finance Minister Meet with IMF Mission Chief

22 September (BNS) - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi met with the head of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) mission in Estonia Alexander Hoffmaister and the IMF delegation led by him. This is Hoffmaister’s first time visiting Estonia.
The IMF representatives said in their meeting with the prime minister of Estonia they were fully confident that the decision to accept Estonia into the euro zone is justified. The Estonian prime minister described the relationship between Estonia and the IMF as very good.
The aim of the meeting between Ligi and Hoffmaister was to exchange evaluations of Estonia's economic and fiscal situation and chart special topics for the scheduled visit by an IMF mission here in December, spokespeople for the Estonian Finance Ministry said.
Ligi and Hoffmaister concentrated on the budgetary situation, outlooks of the labour market, improvement of budgeting and financial management of local governments. IMF hailed Estonia for its fiscal discipline, which makes the possible implementation of budgetary rules in legislation more natural.
"Our vision as regards the outlooks of the economy is very similar," said Ligi. "We share the IMF's concern over the unemployment situation. Because of this, expenditures for education will also rise faster than average in next year's budget, and expenditures for active labour market measures will not be reduced despite the ending of European Union funds and the decline in unemployment," Ligi was quoted as saying.

Tartu University Genome Centre Receives Investments of 1.28 Mln EUR

20 September (BNS) - The Estonian Tartu University Genome Centre Monday received a new gene sequencing platform; more than 19 million kroons (EUR 1.21 mln) of its cost of 20 mln kroons was provided by the European Regional Development Fund and the Estonian government via the measure on the modernisation of scientific apparatus.
The apparatus acquired makes it possible for the Genome Centre to sequence a person's whole genome within one week; earlier it was not possible for the Genome Centre to do such accurate work, the Ministry for Education and Research said.
Thirty projects of 11 scientific and research institutions to the sum total of 240 million kroons got the opportunity to improve the installations of their research labs in the first round of the modernisation of scientific equipment endorsed by the Education and Research Ministry under the measure. The gene sequencing platform was one of the most expensive in the framework of the project.

Q2 Profit of Estonian IT Companies Climbs 6 Percent to 59 Mln EUR

23 September (BNS) - The total profit of Estonia's information technology companies in the second quarter of 2010 rose 6% compared with the same three-month period in 2009 to 930 million kroons (EUR 59.42 mln).
The sector's total turnover grew by 1.2 billion kroons to 7.41 billion kroons.
The total number of workers of IT companies, reduced to full working hours, declined 5% year on year to 15 703 workers. The companies' labour costs were down by 82.4 million kroons at 1.1 billion kroons. The number of companies in the sector increased by 273 companies, or 16%, to 1 928 companies.

Estonian Air Begins Flights from Vilnius to Milan

16 September (BNS) - The Estonian national carrier Estonian Air is planning flights to Milan from Vilnius starting from 18 December. Estonian Air spokeswoman Ilona Eskelinen told BNS that the flights from Vilnius to Milan would continue until 26 March and the company would give additional information about the timetable next week.
Estonian Air will resume flights between Tallinn and Amsterdam from 31 October and the present Tallinn-Vilnius-Amsterdam flights will be shortened to Vilnius-Amsterdam flights. In addition, the company will fly from Vilnius to Stockholm and Tallinn.
Estonian Air will launch its base at Vilnius Airport and one of the company's Boeings will be stationed in Vilnius.
For the Amsterdam flights from Tallinn and Vilnius, Estonian Air will co-operate with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Estonia Exports 40 Percent of Its Milk Output Now

22 September (BNS) - Currently about 40% of the milk produced by farms in Estonia is exported and this also shows in the price of milk and dairy products, a top executive at the dairy company AS Tere said.
Ülo Kivine, deputy chairman of the management board of the Tallinn-based company, told BNS that the price of raw milk has got a boost from the vigorous opening of nearby markets and developments in world market prices alike, and the price of raw milk in Estonia now is on the average European level.
Kivine explained that unlike in other branches of the food and beverage industry, in the dairy industry there is a very direct correlation between the price of raw material and the price of the product, as a liter of milk bought from the farmer goes into a one liter package for selling in stores and nothing is added to it.
"The price of raw material has jumped during the past year, and because of the inertia effect between input and output prices the price rise now comes out bigger. Electricity and transport have become substantially more expensive too in the meantime. These costs we have previously covered using internal resources," said Kivine.
The price of a standard one liter package of drinking milk shot up by a quarter – from 7.90 kroons to roughly 10 kroons (from 50 to 64 eurocents) – at several leading retail chains in Estonia during Tuesday.
At the same time last year retailers were in a race to offer milk cheaper than rivals, bringing the price for a standard one liter package as low as 3.70 kroons.

CULTURAL NEWS

Estonia Triumphs in Cartoon Oscars

18 September - The cartoon Oscars have been handed out and Estonia has come home with gold. The animated film ‘Crocodile’ clinched the 10,000 euro prize. It is about a once-famous opera singer who finds himself out of work and ends up in a costume performing for children outside a shopping centre.
With 700 delegates a year, the Cartoon Forum is neither a fair nor a festival, rather a platform for European animation co-production. This year it was hosted by one of the EU’s newer members, Hungary.