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EESTI ELU reedel, 24. aprillil 2020 — Friday, April 24, 2020
Reinsalu: Russia using coronavirus as cover for Ukraine destabilization
Nr. 16
Estonia has one of the highest COVID-19 testing rates in OECD
ERR, April 2020 News
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
Russia finally cancels Victory Day, for now The decision wasn’t easy. Only after pleas from veteran’s groups urging the Kremlin to postpone the event over con cerns about the health and safety of the participants did the government act. The veterans’ apprehensions were real. As late as April 1, some 15,000 soldiers were known to be still rehearsing for the Victory Day parade. Now we have learned that they’re be ing quarantined for two weeks. All transport vehicles used are to be disinfected. The illness struck students and the director of the St. Petersburg Nahhimov Naval Academy, who partici pated at the rehearsals, which was probably one of the moti vations for the Kremlin’s deci sion. Speculations about Putin’s reluctance to postpone the cele brations point to linked reasons: Putin’s fear of losing popularity thereby weakening his increas ingly authoritarian rule, and keeping Russians focused and obsessed with the heroic gran deur of the Soviet past through Victory Day – making ‘Russia great again’ for the future. One need not be a inveterate cynic to tie the delay in the 75th anniversary parade cancel lation with Putin’s flagging poll numbers. The internationally recognized Levada Centre has shown a decrease in his approval rating from 69 percent in Feb ruary to 63 percent in March. The celebrations of the Soviet victory would supposedly have given a major boost to Putin’s popularity. It was blatant politi cal expediency that drove this hesitancy to delay a crucial public relations event. Putin’s initial unwillingness to put the health of Russians ahead of political considerations is easily explained. He has made the May 9th celebrations the second most popular day of the calendar, next to New Year’s Eve. He’s aware of the Levada Centre surveys which showed a sharp increase for the day’s popularity, rising from 29 per cent agreement to 43 in 2017. In a 2018 survey, fully 87 per cent said they felt a strong feel ing of pride about Victory Day. This rise in popularity coin cides with Putin’s drive to re
store the greatness of the Soviet era. (Just one example: the melody of the Soviet national anthem is re-used in the current song.) The unveiling of new massive monuments, cathedrals dedicated to the Russian mili tary, jets and tanks were to be the centre pieces in many cities country-wide. This year Victory Day was to unite the people. Critics say the celebrations were actually meant to unify Putin’s political power base. A new symbol worn by everyone on Victory Day is the yellow ribbon of St. George. From being an emblem for commemorating the victims of the war, it has now become a symbol of allegiance to the au thorities. It’s clearly expected to overtake the white ribbon, an insignia worn during anti-Putin protests in 2011-2012. The showy rituals that have become part and parcel of this holiday in the past few years are intended to marry the sacred day of remembrance with its military triumph to the main heir of Russia’s the historical victory, Putin. It’s crucial for him to reinvigorate the glory of the past. His political opponents and any criticism thus dese crates the heroic sacrifices of the fallen soldiers and surviving veterans. Putin’s procrastination in making a decision based on dire necessity is also tied to his own personal obsession – becoming Russia’s longest lasting ruler in history. The Duma legislation, containing crucial constitutional changes, would have crowned Trump as Russia’s supreme leader and guaranteed him an other 15 years of uncontested power. The Kremlin’s propaganda campaign was clearly devoted to two events, Victory Day 75th anniversary and a plebiscite required to affirm the Duma’s legislation WWII references calling on Russians to “defend our ancestors’ memory” were intermixed with images of children in Red Army uniforms. The parade was meant to consolidate Putin’s ambitions to remain the country’s ruler. Alas, the plebiscite was indefinitely postponed. The Kremlin was also forced to take into account Russians’ concerns with the epidemic and its related unemployment. Parades are not at their top of mind. People are focused more
Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) says Russia had not taken any real steps towards a peaceful resolution of the conflict in eastern Ukraine, and was using every opportunity to destabilise that country, including taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The situation in the Donbas, where a large portion of the population is elderly and there fore more at risk when it comes to the coronavirus is extremely concerning,” Reinsalu said, speaking via video link-up to his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba recently. “The ceasefire in the Donbas is not holding up. Using the virus pandemic as an excuse, separatists controlled by Russia are blocking access to the Donbas to observers from the OSCE mission, UN agencies and the Red Cross. There are also great difficulties for humanitarian aid reaching the region. All this blatantly con tradicts the UN SecretaryGeneral’s call for a global ceasefire and unlimited humani tarian access,” Reinsalu went on, according to a foreign ministry press release. Reinsalu said that in the current situation, Ukraine need ed the unequivocal and clear support of the EU in particular. “The sanctions on Russia must remain in place,” he con tinued. “The fact that we are all fighting the coronavirus to gether does not mean that we should close our eyes to blatant violations of international law. Yet another step by Russia aim ing at undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine – building a rail link across the Kerch bridge – demands a concrete response from the EU,” Rein salu emphasised. Reinsalu said that via Esto nia’s position as a non-per manent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC), the country would keep the issue of Ukraine in focus, and as recently as last month Estonia organised an informal meeting on the deteriorating human rights (Continued on page 9)
on the epidemic, the accom panying economic disruption and the crippling unemploy ment it has caused. One is convinced that the re-scheduled event (this will surely take place) could well be even more ostentatious than the one postponed. It has become no longer a solemn day of re membrance, but one arousing military fervour, saying don’t mess with us! This message Putin has punctuated with Georgia, Crimea and Ukraine. LAAS LEIVAT
ERR, April 2020 Estonia has the third-highest testing rate per 1,000 citizens in the OECD, an infographic published by the organisation showed on Monday. Iceland and Luxembourg were first and second on the list. Estonia was followed by Norway and Switzerland, rounding out the top 5. The data was gathered by Our World in Data and pub lished by the OECD. The Health Board shared the
The CCP Virus Falun Gong or Falun Dafa has long roots. Founded as a Chinese religious practice that combines meditation and qigong exercises with a moral philosophy, it centers on the tenets of truthfulness, com passion, and forbearance. This movement has been seriously persecuted in China in recent decades. The Epoch Times is a multi-language newspaper, first published in Atlanta in the year 2000. The focus is on truth and tradition. It was founded by journalists associated with Falun Gong. The weekly was published in many countries and up until recently it was available in Toronto for free. Now the publication is only available on the internet through subscription. Strangely, critics from the left have labelled ET as a farright, neoconservative publica tion promoting bizarre con spiracy theories. Nothing could be further from the truth. The pacifist Falun Gong movement is intent on revealing the truth
graph on Facebook and wrote: “Estonia has been very active in testing for Covid-19, lagging behind only Iceland and Luxem bourg in terms of the number of tests. In Estonia, 24.8 tests have been performed per 1,000 inhabitants. We are following the instructions of the emergency situation and togeth er we will do the best we can to get rid of the virus!” To date, a total of 42,213 tests have been carried out in Estonia, of which 1,552 or 3.7 percent have been positive.
about what the Chinese Com munist Party (CCP) is doing in China. News, which never reaches the west, especially via the mainstream print media in the U.S., which is, as is wellknown, primarily of a leftist, liberal slant. ET provides excellent cultural, health and lifestyle articles as well. With Falun Gong’s global network we find out what the CCP is in fact doing. Many in the West still believe the party line, unfortunately. This month, April 2020, when the full extent and sweep of the CVOVID-19 coronavirus was comprehended, ET decided to publish a special newsprint issue, distributed free, revealing factually how the CCP has en dangered the entire world. The CCP’s cover-up led to a pan demic that is global in sweep. This valuable issue merits read ing, especially by those who claim that the publication is a conspiracy supporter. By focus sing on the facts rather than false news and obfuscation, a view of what really took place is provided. (Continued on page 11)
