Estonia

Ilves Speaks Out on Russia

President Toomas Ilves no doubt raised the ire of ethnic Russians living in Estonia during a recent radio interview with Russian Ekho Moskvy radio station via link up from Tallinn on December 8. 

Having just won the Presidential election in October, I asked several of my Estonian friends what they thought of Ilves.  While some enthused that he would restore a Lennart Meri flair to the presidency, others lamented that he would be a bit of a political bungler.  Given the latter assessment, I was pleasantly surprised by Ilves straight talk about everything from security issues with Russia to the thorny assimilation problems ethnic Russians are having living in Estonia. 

Estonia lately has been receiving a lot of flack from outsiders concerned about Parliment's recent consideration to ban Nazi and Soviet symbols that "inspire hatred".  Many have questioned the move claiming it would be a violation of free speech, to which Ilves responded: "Let's look at this from a slightly different angle. During the World War II, Estonia lost nearly one-third of its population. This was the fault of both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union and if one was looking at this from the point of view of Estonia and an Estonian person - this was perpetrated against Estonia under two sets of symbols. Why do Estonians have to distinguish in their hearts one symbol of totalitarianism from another? The results for the people of Estonia were the same. In terms of what was done to Estonians during this period, there was no difference between the Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union - the methods and the results were the same."

Criticism has also been leveled at Estonia by the likes of Amnesty International for its aparent discriminatory policies toward ethnic Russians living in Estonia as they don't have the same privileges as naturalized citizens. "Amnesty International respects Estonia's right to preserve its culture, and it has a right to preserve and promote its language," Amnesty researcher Anders Dahlbeck told reporters in Tallinn.

However, this should not take place "at the expense of internationally respected human rights," he added.

During his radio interview, Ilves responsed to these charges by saying "If you look at what rights the population speaking other languages has in other countries of the European Union, then the foreign-language population in Estonia has many more rights than in other countries of the European Union." Ilves explained that the language test that non-citizens have to take to gain citizenship was an easy one so that about a dozen Belarusian students who have escaped Belarus have reached the required language standard in three months after arriving in Tartu.

Ilves said that, in reality, it is the Russian speakers who are privileged in Estonia: "It is possible for a Russian-speaking person to get good medical help anywhere in Estonia but a person who speaks Estonian and does not know Russian would not be able to get a high standard of medical help everywhere in Estonia. Thus, those speaking Russian are actually privileged at present, as everywhere in Estonia one can communicate in Russian but if you travel to Narva, for example, it would be difficult to get good medical help without knowing Russian."

G-Dubya Likes Estonia's Flat Tax

For years, US conservative policy makers have been beating the drum of instituting a flat tax.  Yet when Republicans took control of Congress in the mid 90's, the beat faded.  It turns out that for various reasons a flat tax wouldn't necessarily be a boon to the American electorate nor business.  For instance, a flat tax would remove the tax shield benefits of interest expense deductions and could therefore cause housing and equity prices to crater.   

Nevertheless, a simpler tax code would make the IRS much more efficient and increase the coffers of the Treasury.  Its no wonder then that during his visit to Estonia in late November, George Bush praised the Estonian government for its flat tax and tightly run bureaucracy.  The President acknowledged Estonia's flat tax no less than three times during his half-day trip through Tallinn and was impressed with paperless government meetings that reportedly cut 3-4 hour policy sessions down to 30 minutes.

"I appreciate the fact that you got a flat tax, you got a tax system that's transparent and simple," and "an e-government system that should be the envy of a lot of nations," Bush said with trademark ineloquence during his toast to newly elected President Thomas Ilves before leaving for the NATO Summit in Riga, Latvia.  Unfortunately, his admiration for Estonia's efficiency likely won't translate into much when he returns home. 

Russian Grip on Electricity Loosened

Today the Estonian government inaugurated an undersea cable connecting Estonia with Finland.  Currently Estonia derives all of its electricity from oil shale, but is still connected to the Russian electricity grid which was built during Soviet times. The new undersea cable will enable Estonia and its Baltic neighbors to receive electricity from Europe via Finland for the first time ever.  Finland will import electricity from Estonia as well. 

Estonia is the only Baltic state that can produce its own electricity and exports power to Latvia and Lithuania, both of whom also depend on Russia for power generation. 

While Estonia will still look to Russia for energy needs, particularly oil and natural gas, the undersea cable now relieves the Baltic States and Finland from having to depend on Russia for electricity, a critical component for ensuring energy security and economic stability.  Just last month Russia announced huge hikes in natural gas prices to the former Soviet republics in the Baltics, and Belarus, highlighting the importance of reducing dependence on Russia for supplies of fuel and electricity.

"The new link enhances greatly the energy security of Estonia," Estonian Minister for Economic Affairs Edgar Savisaar said Monday at the Estonian opening ceremony of in Harku, near the capital Tallinn.