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EESTI ELU reedel, 8. oktoobril 2021 — Friday, October 8, 2021
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
Is there a new deal between Budapest and Moscow? It’s angered Ukraine and bewildered Hungary’s tradi tional allies. Some say it was inevitable considering Viktor Orban’s warm relationship with Vladimir Putin. The new 15-year contract that Hungary and Russia’s Gazprom recently struck brings 4.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas through Austria and Serbia, bypassing Ukraine. But Budapest points out that Kiev makes $3 billion from the tran sit of gas from Russia despite the ongoing Russian-supported war in the Donbass and the annexation of Crimea – an arrangement that eludes the visceral animosity between the two. It’s practically impossible to remove politics from gas supply issues, especially since much of Europe is still dependent on Gazprom and places the com pany in a position of strength, especially with the completion of Nord Stream 2. Irrespective of the energy needs of Hungary, it’s been reported for years that a special understanding/relationship be tween Orban and Putin does exist, unconcealed. Orban has been quoted: “In the past, we Hungarians have suffered a lot under Russia. … Nevertheless. It needs to be recognized that Putin has made his country great again (remind you of Mr. Trump? Ed.) and that Russia is once again a player on the world stage.” Orban’s depiction of the steady erosion of freedoms in Russia is one of benign and successful change to an “illi beral” society, an evolution he welcomes. These changes need a firm return to traditional “Christian” values that are under attack by sinister forces from the West and foreign funded activists. This coincides perfectly with the recently ex panded list of groups and orga nizations that are considered by the Kremlin to be “foreign agents”. The parallels between Russian and Hungarian leader ship is palpable. Orban returned to power in 2010 and since then he has dogmatically shifted his country towards an autocracy. He has claimed control of the major media and congregated a finan
cial/political clique of loyalists associated with his Fidesz. (Even though Orban is a vehe ment critic of practically all the that EU represents, his business cronies are the largest benefi ciaries of funds from the EU. ) While he has strongly criti cized EU sanctions against Russia over the annexation of Crimea, he has also rejected a joint statement by the four Visegrad countries criticizing Russia. Orban demanded it be softened. Drafted by Poland, it called for the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project and voiced support for Ukraine and Belarus. He has finally accepted a softer version. Open discourse amongst ob servers has focused on the pos sible special relationship that Putin and Orban seemingly en joy. Of particular fodder for speculation was Orban’s invita tion to Putin to visit just after Russia had grabbed Crimea in 2014. For many it was a radical shift for Orban, who had gained a reputation as a fiery freedom fighter in 1989, demanding the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Hungary. As an opposition politician in 2002, he criticized the Socialist government’s support for Russia’s South Stream gas project as “treasonous”. He later became a proponent of the pipeline and accused the EU of sabotaging the project when it was cancelled in 2014. Orban’s critics see him as following in Putin’s footsteps, restricting media freedom, waging a political war on civil society, propagating an ultra- nationalistic ideology and ex pounding a visceral hatred for the EU. The trademarks of other European far-right political bodies are said to be quite simi lar. With respect to Putin’s Russia, Orban praised Mos cow’s defiance of Western influence and Russia’s ability to “survive Western attempts to isolate and overthrow the re gime”. This has had its conse quences: Putin has been polled as more popular in Hungary than Angela Merkel and Hungarians have seen the EU as a more serious threat than Russia in a poll conducted a few years ago.
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The Hamilton Estonian community: “Vital, Rejuvenated, Inclusive.” This, the third in a series of articles about the Estonian Central Council in Canada (EKN) and Estonian communi ties from across Canada pro files the Estonian community in Hamilton. Lia Hess, EKN member from Hamilton was interviewed by Reet Marten Sehr. 1. What has motivated you to become a community lead er? I believe that the prime moti vation of most Estonian com munity leaders, including my self, is that we honor our past and want to pass on the love of our ancestry and cultural heri tage to future generations here, in Canada. In order for this to happen, our unique language, traditions, history and customs need to be a part of our life style, not just something that happens through occasional visits to Estonia or something we read about. Our hope is that the presence and continuance of Estonian schools, choirs, chur ches, camps and other events will provide enough variety and information to keep people interested, engaged and partici pating. We can all find some thing of interest and feel in cluded as an extended part of Estonia here in Canada. It is easy to think that “someone else” will do the work to keep our community going, but I believe that com munity service and volun teerism begins with each and every one of us. If everyone offers to help and participates in whatever capacity they are able to, and donates both their time and resources accordingly, the Estonian communities in Cana da will continue. (Continued on page 9)
Freedom House lowered its score on freedoms in Hungary by 20 points, giving it the lowest rating in the EU. Russia’s laws defining and establishing which organization is a “foreign agent” are also replicated in Hungary. In spite of all the anti-demo cratic changes that Orban’s re gime has instituted, it must be said that the treatment of the political opposition and reaction to public protest does not mimic Putin’s repressive style. The level of danger that exists in Russia or obstacles to opposing the government are not as ingrained in Hungary as in Russia. With the evident similarities between Russia’s and Hungary’s march to autocracy, the differ ences in governance may not be enough to save the very spirit of freedom-loving Hungarians from breaking. LAAS LEIVAT
“Hinged” album cover design by Elisabeth Klement.
We’re Listening with EMW: Stepping beyond the mortal plane in Maarja Nuut’s album, Hinged Vincent Teetsov In case you haven’t had the chance to listen to it yet, Maarja Nuut’s album, Hinged (https://maarjanuut.bandcamp. com/album/hinged), from Au gust 2021, brings her voice to an even more remote place than we’ve heard before: the afterlife. The title is deliberately bilin gual, with “hinged” referring to spirits in Estonian, as well as how “one’s existence hinges on past generations...” As Nuut eloquently outlines the concept of her album, “...we are what has come before.” The album was recorded in her seaside studio while sorting through a farm that she had inherited from her grandmother. She was looking at “five generations’ worth of personal possessions; land that had sus tained my forebearers. Clearing the impenetrable brush, and sorting through buildings burst ing with artifacts, felt like a long ritual filled with layers, layers, and more layers.” Unearthing layers like these, through the possessions of one’s family, can bring on a heavy mood. The variable condition of possessions serves to remind us of what we have forgotten in the past. Holding something that was last touched years ago brings us back to that last pair of hands. It can bring tears to your eyes, just as much as it can make you smile from ear to ear. Going all the way back to her 2016 album Une meeles (with the English title “In the Hold of a Dream”), Nuut has frequently channelled pieces of Estonia’s past in her music. But as of late, she eschews the call and response and violin style of songs like “Hobusemäng”, for a sound that is less of a revival of music from the past and more of a personal link to the past. To achieve this, she digitally
collages her voice and uses modular synthesizers, an organ, and incorporates the rhythms of Swiss jazz drummer Nicolas Stocker. The album is lyrically bilin gual, too, to an extent. Nuut combines English and Estonian all at once in the song “A Scene.” I’m certain I’ve never heard that done before. It’s usually one or the other. Furthermore, this song’s decay ing bell tones sound like a reminder of fading memories. “Subota” is a personal favourite from the album, owing to its shifting beat and sense of urgency. Jumpy vocal cut-ins and ambient bog noises sound like an ancient hunting ritual in progress. As producer, Nuut flips through sound bites like pages in a book. Voices and inter jections are used texturally, and many of the songs don’t focus on a hard structure, but rather, a soundscape. The most singular piece in the album is the song “Vaheala valgus” (English title: “I Hear Behind the Moon”), which acts as a kind of interlude. The organ is chilling, as is the wavering tape recording effect you’ll hear. It makes you feel cold and lost, quite literally, when listen ing to it. Maarja Nuut is estab lishing historic connections in a much more radical idiom than we have been exposed to through other genres like folk. The word “clarity” is the last lyric uttered on the album, in the song “Moment.” Despite that word choice, the album’s ending feels almost unresolved. But that could very easily be my own mortal way of think ing, considering this album’s connection to another plane, with spirits, and cycles rather than endings.
