Estonia

"The Singing Revolution" opens in Los Angeles December 7

The film The Singing Revolution about Estonia's independence movement from the Soviet Union in 1991 will be opening in Los Angeles December 7, 2008. For screening times in Los Angeles and around the US, click here.

Click here for trailer.

Estonia Really a Leading Producer of Oil Shale?

A recent article in EU Business claims that Estonia has plans to further "diversify energy sources and boost electricity exports to other Baltic region EU states".  It goes on to say that Estonia is the "world's leading oil shale producer".  Is this possible for such a tiny country? 

For those with little background like me in oil exploration and production, the following research reveals some surprising results:

According to a 2004/2005 published account of the US Geological survey, there are approximately 410 billion tons, or three trillion US barrels of known oil shale deposits stashed throughout the world.  The US maintains 62% of these deposits, 70% of which are under federally managed land.  Oil shale is not to be confused with "oil" or "tar sands", most of which is buried in Canada - approximately two trillion barrels worth.

Mining and refining oil sands becomes cost effective when world oil prices reach $30 / barrel, whereas refining oil shale is much more expensive and only becomes cost effective at $80 / barrel... like now.

In any case, while Estonia may only maintain 14 billion barrels of oil shale reserves, i.e., just 0.5% of the world's total, it is a leading producer at 14 million barrels annually (see figure 19 of the US Geological Survey).  Given Estonia's tiny population and it's use of oil shale to generate electricity, the Baltic country could maintain energy independence from Russia and the EU - a huge relief given how the rest of the EU is dependent upon Russia for energy needs. 

According to EU Business, "The recently modernized Soviet-built stations are the world's largest oil shale-fired electrical power facilities. They play a crucial role in Estonia's economy, making it one of the few EU states boasting electricity self-sufficiency." 
Indeed, Estonia plans on being a net exporter of electricity given it's relatively low usage and large production capacity.

Nevertheless, refining oil shale is a messy and destructive business and environmental groups are pressuring the Estonian government to stop oil shale production.

In the meantime, Jordan has tapped Estonia's production expertise.  Should the US ever feel the need to refine oil shale, Uncle Sam may one day seek help from it's tiny Baltic ally.

Former Estonian PR Blasts Communism

In an interview with NTDTV, Former Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar sounds off on the devastating effects of communist rule and how China needs to shape up its human rights record prior to the 2008 Olympics.

"I hope awareness of the atrocities occuring in communist countries continues to grow, because when we ignore this, it's dangerous and bad for the entire free world."

Amnesty International Fires Off Letter to Ansip

Recent ammendments on the "Law on Language" go into effect tomorrow March 1st which according to Amnesty International "extend the powers of the Language Inspectorate to recommending dismissals of employees for insufficient Estonian language skills, making people who already have a language certificate re-sit a language exam and nullifying the language certificates of those who fail a re-sit of their language exam."

This law targets ethnic Russians who make up one third of  Estonia's population.  While I have been sympathetic to the country's need to do what it can to preserve its cultural heritage, especially in light of its recent past as an occupied country by the Russians, the Germans and then by the Soviets after World War II, this law will do more to exacerbate the integration issues facing ethnic Russians and Estonians than ease them. 

A poignant story in Amnesty's recent letter to Andrus Ansip underscores this point:

I used to work as a taxi driver but lost my job thanks to the Language Inspectorate. They call you to the transport commission for the slightest infraction of the high way code where the ladies from the Language Inspectorate are waiting for you. Everything is well planned. They call only the Russian speakers. They can sack you not because you are a bad worker, not because passengers have been complaining but because you don't know Estonian well. I have three children, a mortgage and an alcoholic husband but nobody cares. I have to pay for language courses and they are not cheap -- two or three monthly salaries. I don't have a job and I cannot pay for the Estonian language courses. How am I going to live? Isn't this discrimination?"

Unfortunately, the Language Inspectorate appears to be employing the same draconian methods practiced by Estonia's past enemies.  I can understand the need for language proficiency, but Estonia should then do all it can to ensure that Russians can speak the language by providing free classes at a minimum.  Every economist knows that the key to sustainable GDP growth is increased productivity -- something Estonia has not been able to generate recently despite its progressive economic policies and technologically savvy work force, which has accrued benefits mainly to those in the big cities like Tallinn, but not for ethnic Russians particularly in rural regions. 

Estonia's economic miracle can only continue if the country insures that its labor force is highly competitive.  It must do more to integrate Russians more fully which means at the very least granting them citizenship while also providing them with the language skills and job training necessary to work alongside fellow Estonians as equals.   Marginalizing Russians can only prolong animosity and harm economic and social progress in the long run.

Estonia First to Vote Over the Web

TALLINN, Feb 28 - About one in 30 Estonian voters cast ballots via the Internet this week when the country became the first in the world to allow Web voting for national parliamentary elections, officials said on Wednesday.

Voters in the Baltic country were given the chance to vote via the Internet from Feb. 26-28 before the actual polling day on March 4.

A total of 30,275 out of 940,000 registered voters cast their ballots via the Web, said the officials.

"We are happy with this number. I personally would not have expected so many electronic voters," said Epp Maaten, deputy head of the national electoral commission.

Estonia used Web voting for elections once before but that was in more limited local polls in 2005 when nearly 10,000 voted through the Internet. It is a new sign of Estonia's strong embrace of technology since it quit the Soviet Union in 1991.

To cast ballots via the Internet, voters had to use their state-issued ID cards and enter two passwords.

Pollsters expect the present two main coalition parties, the centre-right Reform Party and left-leaning Centre Party, to both do well in the elections, but it is not clear which will be the biggest.

Reform leader Andrus Ansip is the current prime minister.

Copyright 2007 Reuters.

Estonia set for world's first Internet election

Coming up on March 4th, Estonians will hold the world's first vote over the internet.  According to Reuters, E-voting will be introduced for a parliamentary election for the first time after it was used in more limited local elections in 2005. It is a fresh sign of Estonia's strong embrace of technology since it quit the Soviet Union in 1991 and another example of its innovative culture. 

Estonia pioneered a flat tax in 1992, is paying women to have babies in order to stem its declining population and built the world's first free city-wide wifi network in its capital city Tallinn.  Estonians were some of the first to use online banking 10 years ago even though many of its residents didn't have ready access to the internet or much money. 

The tiny Baltic country's infrastructure was decrepit after its independence in the early 1990's. Even today, outside the glitzy new skyscrapers of Tallinn city center, buildings look battered, roads are potholed and Soviet-era trolley buses still whirr around town.

"One of the most common explanations as to why Estonians have taken to new IT technology is that everything had to be done new here," said Jaan Tallinn, a senior programmer involved in the development of Skype.

"There were no legacies to deal with, like with bank cheques, which were already obsolete. So companies could create new systems and people just used them," he added.

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."