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EESTI ELU reedel, 9. aprillil 2021 — Friday, April 9, 2021
Nr. 14
The evolution of freedom and human rights, as described by VEMU fundraiser guest speaker Professor Marju Lauristin Vincent Teetsov English-language supplement to the Estonian weekly “EESTI ELU” Tartu College Publications Founding Chairman: Elmar Tampõld Editor: Laas Leivat 3 Madison Avenue, Toronto, ON M5R 2S2 T: 416-733-4550 • F: 416-733-0944 • E-mail: editor@eestielu.ca Digital: www.eestielu.ca
Follow the money, that is dark money Most reliable estimates internationally put the amount at $1 trillion in the US alone. Experts say that fully one quarter of this is controlled by Vladimir Putin and those close to him. According to an Atlantic Council report last fall, approxi mately $40 billion have found their way west each year since 1990. Private ownership in Russia does not have the pro tections that have been part of established democracies for generations. This spurs cautious and proactive entrepreneurs, with corrupt government offi cials and outright shysters to place their legitimate earnings, ill-gotten and fraudulent gains into investments abroad, away from mother Russia. With the implosion of com munism, along with China’s sharp turn to capitalism, illegally gained fortunes from looted government coffers and bribes, that had always been hustled to secret locations around the world, was robustly magnified with the globalization of bank ing. By one estimate $1 trillion now leaves the world’s develop ing countries each year. With the Soviet Union’s col lapse and the surge in the new rich, many of whom had simply grabbed state assets, the most appropriate places for safe guarding their profits were places such as Cyprus. By 2013 the island had attracted $130 billion, 150% of its GDP. The majority of the money was returned to Russia in the form of “foreign investment”. A Berkeley economist in 2015 concluded that fully 52% of Russian wealth resides out side the country. But international scrutiny forced Russians to find new hideaways like British Virgin Islands, London, the Caymans, even the State of Delaware. All provided anonymity and money laundering possibilities. The Council report states that Estonia, through the Danske Bank, along with Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova were also venues for Russian money laundering. The Caymans, with a popu lation of 60,000, is home to 158 banks. The wealthier Russian oligarchs usually spread their wealth among 30–40 anonymous offshore firms, which provide anonymity in
transactions. Delaware legislation provides easy registration for shelf companies to do business in confidentiality. Most Russian money in the USA is involved in investment in the financial sector. However another popular sector is real estate, where an accurate estimate of the total amount has been impossible to calculate. The Council observes that approximately one quarter of the $1 trillion belongs to Vladimir Putin and four other Russian oligarchs. The question here is not ownership of the money, but its end use. It is known that substantial sums went to support the Republicans in the 2016 elections, in comp liance with US election law. The donations originated from US citizens, such as Lev Blavatnik, a citizen since 1984. Local US citizens of Russian heritage are a Godsend to the oligarchs, since significant Russian assets have been frozen due to sanction enforcement. US citizens cannot be penalized using the same measures. This weakness in US legislation is compounded by the reality that political influence can also be bought through thousands of firms whose ownership is totally obscure. It’s widely acknowledged that these types of funds can pose a serious security threat to the US, because this money can be exploited and directed for espionage, terrorism, industrial espionage, political corruption, manipulation of public opinion, disinformation and other illegal ends. At the collapse of the Soviet system, the West had naively expected the best practices from the new elites who had been liberated from a repressive, cor rupt bureaucracy. They ex pressed commitment to liberal, democratic capitalism and were initially believed. During the Cold War, the KGB had be come expert at using Western banking complexities, and ex hibited confidence in paying its network of agents with it. This capability spurred the ac cumulation of massive fortunes. One of history’s greatest robber ies was the plundering of the state treasury by adversaries in Soviet intelligence. The monies were deposited into accounts across Europe and the US.
In last week’s edition of Esto nian Life, it was announced that VEMU ÖÖTV and Estonian Music Week will be presenting this year’s VEMU fundraiser online on Friday April 23rd. The fundraiser will start at 7:00 PM and conclude at 9:30, with take-out dinners cooked by Ülle Veltmann and Linda Karuks. However, there wasn’t the opportunity to say much about the guest speaker, Professor Marju Lauristin, a woman for whom there is much to say. In 2015, Estonian World de clared her the number one most outstanding Estonian woman in the world. Eesti Päevaleht named her as part of the 10 most influential families in Estonia. In a recent interview, I asked why her perspectives on politics and sociology strike a chord for many Estonians today. Immediately, she spoke of the steadiness of her views on democracy. “Maybe they trust that I am genuine in my views, that I’m not pursuing any kind of political interest or self in terest.” To counteract what she determines to be self interest, Professor Lauristin often em phasizes “evidence-based deci sions” in politics. This stems from her long career in academia. Professor Lauristin teaches Social Com munication at the University of Tartu, and has been a professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences for 18 years. Her foundation in this field was built when, in 1966, she com pleted her degree in Journalism and Sociology of Mass Communication at what was Tartu State University. Despite the way social sciences were viewed with suspicion by the communist establishment, she
It’s been suggested that the US and other countries have, in effect, become complicit in this plunder. The West could have rejected this illegal money, could have blocked the creation of self-companies and tax havens. Instead Western banks encouraged the use of their fi nancial operations. In Estonia, Danske Bank was ejected from the country in 2020 after admitting suspicious money flowed through its Estonian based branch between 2007 and 2015. Estonia, in vestigating the extent of these operations, is sharing its infor mation with the US, including identifying individuals who are subject to US sanctions. In Latvia, laundered Russian funds were used for more than just political manipulation. An attempted Moscow-supported coup in Montenegro in 2016 was directly tied to funds that
Marju Lauristin at a Rahvarinne (Popular Front of Estonia) gathering at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds in June 1988. Photo: Urmas Koemets
found ways to conduct research and pursue her field of study. This culminated in her obtain ing a PhD in Journalism at Moscow University in 1976. Her deviation from what was deemed acceptable extended to political activism. A big part of her notoriety comes from the fact that she and other activists initiated and organized the Rahvarinne (Popular Front of Estonia) in 1988, which led the Estonian independence move ment. Professor Lauristin grew up in an environment that was un likely to raise an independence activist. Her mother and father, Olga and Johannes Lauristin, were prominent communists in Estonia. But in 1980, Marju Lauristin signed the neljakümne kiri (“Letter of 40”). This letter was put together by 40 intellec tuals with the intent to protest Russification in Estonia and the handling of the riots that fol lowed the Propeller concert at Kadriorg Stadium that Septem ber. In August 1989, as a member of the Rahvarinne’s managing committee, she was involved in organizing the Baltic Way, an
moved through a Latvian bank. It was inevitable that Russian authorities denied any such con nection, but couldn’t refute the undertaking of the coup. Reforms are being adopted in the light of Washington’s initiatives to weaken the in fluence in post-Soviet Bloc states that have a continuing confrontational relationship with Moscow and have deployed NATO forces to deter Russian aggression. The exact total of the funds, illegally accumulated, legiti mized through established banks and some of it used to influence political decisionmaking, is unknown. While the US is making it illegal to hide the actual ownership of foreign assets, much more needs to change globally to make any dent in the world of Russianstyle kleptocracy that enjoys the wild west milieu of today.
enormous human chain on the roads from Tallinn to Riga, de manding freedom for the Esto nian, Latvian, and Lithuanian people. In hindsight, she de clares “It had to become, and really became, an international media event...We wanted to show that we were three nations who were very capable of high-level self organization and self discipline... [and that] we had the real unanimous will to have back our statehood and sovereignty and to have real historic justice done.” As a member of the Baltic delegation, she visited the U.S. Congress in May 1990, at a time when those pushing for independence were still advised to act with caution by politi cians and commentators. In Washington, there was a hear ing in the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Re lations concerning the Baltic independence movements. At the same time, the New York Times published a column that cautioned the Baltic nations against rocking the boat, so to speak. Despite this tension, leaders of Estonian, Lithuanian, and Latvian popular fronts were determined to convince US senators and the international political community to support Baltic independence vis-a-vis Moscow’s denial of this legiti mate claim. On August 20th, 1991, she was vice-speaker of the Supreme Council of the Re public of Estonia, which for mally voted to restore the inde pendence of Estonia. Between 1992 and 1994, she was the Minister of Social Affairs during Mart Laar’s first term as Prime Minister. Until 2003, she was a member of the Riigikogu as part of the Moderate People’s Party, what is now the Social Democratic Party. And throughout her time in politics, her ties to academia didn’t diminish. In 2003, she returned to the University of Tartu, where she was invited to become a full professor. However, despite increased stability in Estonia, challenges remained after independence was achieved. Namely, one
LAAS LEIVAT
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