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EESTI ELU reedel, 27. novembril 2020 — Friday, November 27, 2020
The Tale of two Estonias Marcus Kolga, UpNorth, November 2020 After years spent struggling to escape the stigma attached to being a former hostage of the Soviet State, Estonia has rightfully earned its status as a global leader in digital governance and innovation. Thanks to early leaders like Prime Minister Mart Laar, who enacted ambitious yet painful early reforms in the nation’s post-Soviet era, Estonia shed as much of their Soviet baggage as possible in order to hasten the nation’s re-entry into Europe and the Western world. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves recalibrated Estonia’s dra matic forward trajectory by am bitiously tilting it upwards, with his now-famous Tiger Leap ini tiative – which was to make Estonia a global tech leader. Estonia’s paperless govern ment and electronic system of governance – from i-voting to the administration of personal health records, are an interna tional model of success. Its in novative e-residency program, allowing foreigners to become virtual residents, open bank accounts and start-up compa nies, is the first of its kind in the world and has attracted
When PM Ratas’ new farright coalition was sworn in, Finance Minister Martin Helme, 73,000 people from 170+ coun the son of Interior Minister of tries who have established over Mart Helme, flashed white su 14,000 new companies in premacy hand gestures. Jour Estonia over the past few years. nalists were verbally attacked, However, in March 2019, the and editors began self-censoring e-Estonia project faced a set criticism of the Ratas coalition. back, when a marginal neo- Senior Estonian journalist Vilja fascist political party was unex Kiisler received threats of rape pectedly thrust into the national and other violence, and eventu spotlight by current PM Juri ally resigned from her post at Ratas. His populist Center the Postimees newspaper. Party, having come in second in Estonia’s Foreign Minister the general election, eschewed a had already issued a ban on coalition with the winning cen Estonian diplomats signing a trist Reform Party. Determined 50-nation declaration in Poland to remain in power, Ratas en on homosexuals having human tered into a coalition with the rights. far-right Estonian Conservative The Prime Minister brushed Peoples’ Party (EKRE) – which, off concerns about the growing in addition to sharing Putin’s climate of homophobia and homophobic and xenophobic racism that members of his gov positions, also has members ernment were encouraging, who believe Adolf Hitler “did claiming that the Helme fa some positive things”. ther-son duo would control their Estonia’s nose-dive from racist sentiments. The Estonian far right has European tech superstar to a pitiful political neanderthal over the support of 15% of the elec the past 18 months, has been as torate. The culture of fear and spectacular as its rise out of hate that party leaders have in Soviet squalor over the 30 toxicated their followers with is years, before the Ratas govern not based on any known facts ment. The Prime Minister has or evidence. They claim that enabled a steep rise in racism Estonia is on the verge of being and homophobia in his country, overrun by refugees, despite the led by his far-right coalition fact that in 2018, Estonia partners who said Estonia’s im received just 35 refugees. migration policy should include In October, EKRE Interior one primary principle: “If Minister said that homosexuals they’re black, turn them back”. should leave Estonia for
Estonia at both ends of the globe Vincent Teetsov It has been suggested that Ui-te-Rangiora, a navigator from Polynesia, was the first person to set eyes on Antarctica in 650 CE. It is also claimed that in 1820, the Imperial Russian expedition of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellinghausen, a Baltic Ger man from Lahetaguse in Saaremaa, was the first to see the continent. No matter how you look at it, though, enthu siasm about the polar regions of the planet has not ceased after they were merely seen. According to Erki Tam miksaar from the Estonian University of Life Sciences and Dr. Enn Kaup of Tallinn University of Technology, tens of thousands of scientists from Estonia have conducted re search in Antarctica since then. At first, this was connected to Soviet expeditions after the Second World War. The Bel
linghausen expedition became a way for the Soviet Union “to claim rights to the Antarctic and also to argue for its participa tion in Antarctic exploration.” Estonian scientists were able to leverage this to conduct impor tant research. Early research conducted by Estonians included isotope palaeoclimatology, using ice samples to understand how the earth has changed over time. This has come full circle recently, to the opposite end of the planet, as Estonia has become involved in Arctic re search to understand climate change better. In April 2014, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Urmas Paet spoke about how Estonia had started discussing the possibility of applying for observer status in the Arctic Council. He said “Estonia is interested in what is happening in the Arctic and in participating in scientific pro
Photo: eu-polarnet.eu
grams connected with the Arctic, as well as in the de velopment of related knowledge and skills.” Over six years later, on November 11th, 2020, Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu offi cially announced that this appli cation had been submitted. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited the impact of climate change, proximity to the Arctic, Estonian expertise, and the solutions of Estonian scientists and companies as reasons for applying. This is nine months after Iceland, one of the Coun cil’s 14 members, had official talks with Estonia and discussed Arctic cooperation, among other topics. Dr. Kaup and Professor Rein Vaikmäe of the Estonian Polar Research Commission both be lieve that “The Antarctic and Arctic are the key regions for finding secrets that would help to explain climate change.” The cost of this research is high, north or south, but there is confidence in the value of it. Professor Vaikmäe has noted that “Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA2005) and Antarctic Climate Change and Environment (ACCE2009) re views have used results pub lished by Estonian researchers.” Some research may not be favourable to everyone. Arctic ice analysis may prove useful for shipping and developing Arctic ocean routes in the fu ture. The Arctic isn’t up for the taking or available for unre stricted activity like Antarctica has appeared to be. There are distinct cultural groups, nations,
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Sweden, and his son, finance minister Martin Helme, recently claimed Black Americans did not have to show IDs to vote in the US because “that would be racism”. The Ratas government made international news again during the US election, when its European MEP Jaak Madison – who has called for a “final solu tion” to the European refugee crisis – was pictured meeting with Steve Bannon and Brexit leader Nigel Farage in Washington the day the former urged the beheading of Robert Fauci and FBI Director Wray. Madison later claimed massive voter fraud had taken place in Michigan. Last weekend, the Estonian ministers of Interior and Finance, repeated the fraud claim as well as the baseless accusation that Biden and his son Hunter were corrupt. They said Trump “will win eventual ly. It will happen as a result of an immense struggle, pictured as a victorious Trump marching over a field of intestines and en trails, but justice will win in the end.” Last week, the party’s official media outlet published a piece that urged all Estonians to limit their news consumption about the US election to the Russian state media platform, RT and Breitbart. The former career US Ambas sador to Estonia, Jim Melville, told me that he be
lieves that “these are very dan gerous sentiments for allied leaders to express. Whether they have any impact will de pend on what other Estonian leaders say and do about it. If EKRE remains a part of the Estonian coalition government, then I’m afraid the other parties in the coalition will be tainted by the same brush.” The tale of these two Estonias, one set on a path towards prosperity and freedom and the other bent on subverting all that the country achieved over the past decades, is drag ging Estonia kicking and screaming back to the cryptosoviet stone ages. Ambassador Melville’s ad vice for the non-extremist part ners in the coalition is to resign and “get talking to The Reform Party [which actually won last year’s election with a record number of seats] about putting together a coalition that Esto nians can be proud of.” Estonia will one day rebound from the backwards slide that its Prime Minister and his ex treme right coalition partners have placed it on. The sooner Estonian political leaders put aside personal ambition and form a united front against this assault on Estonian democracy and society, the sooner they can resume the work of its great leaders like Mart Laar, Lennart Meri and Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
habitats, and a long history of life in the Arctic. On the other hand, studying the adaptability of polar microorganisms, for example, has the potential to push medicine forward. Though the number of re searchers in Estonia is less than other countries, expertise in IT has supplemented traditional field research so that there’s something new to offer. At this point in Antarctica, Estonians are working with the existing infrastructure of other nations, rather than creating a new station. This approach is more streamlined. It conveys an in terest in knowledge and co operation rather than inter national prestige or claiming territory. The Arctic and Antarctic are seemingly unfamiliar places, and yet you’ll find several fa miliar aspects if you visit. At McMurdo Station, in the seg ment of Antarctica claimed by New Zealand, there’s a library, restaurants, a café, a church that doubles as a synagogue, a fire department, and a post office. Scientists and sailors who choose to stay in the endless winter (our summer, depending on where you’re reading) clink glasses together in the station’s bars. At Carlini Base in the sector of Antarctica claimed by Argentina, Metallica has even played a show. Even though other-worldly climate and ter rain prevent many people from staying at either pole for ex tended periods of time, there is unity when people are putting effort into increased under standing and solutions.
Global Estonian… (Continued from page 10)
community and their satisfac tion with consular services in their part of the world. What is Global Estonian? Global Estonian is an online portal, in Estonian and English, and network for Estonians and friends of Estonians around the world. Managed by the Integration Foundation, Global Estonian brings together news, events, culture, organizations, support programs, learning opportuni ties, and a wealth of other in formation from Estonian com munities abroad, all in one central gateway.
While in 1959, the main treaty of the Antarctic Treaty System was necessary to secure cooperation between nations in Antarctica, it seems now that scientists are working at both poles even if there aren’t finan cial or territorial gains. They know the value of international cooperation and academic ob servation. Work like this will come back to benefit everyone, including Estonians, though right now the benefits appear to be subtle. And these initiatives show to the rest of the world that Estonia is a country that should always be part of the conversation.
ESTONIAN LIFE
