“Lukashenko wants to become President of Russia”: Estonian press digest

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Politics. Society

Police warn the presidential family The police have warned President Arnold Ruutel and his wife Ingrid that some drugs may be put furtively into the school bags of their granddaughters, reports SL Ihtuleht. Police Chief Tarmo Kohv refuses to say where they have learned that from. “We have actually warned the presidential family against possible provocation. But only the police they got this information from,” says Kohv.

The daily reminds its readers that the President’s granddaughter was caught by the police in the center of Tallinn Mar 1, while drinking bear with friends. Seeing she was a bit tipsy, the police took her to the presidential palace, where youth policemen had a talk with her grandmother Ingrid Ruutel. The mother of the girl, the President’s daughter Maris Leif learned the news from newspapers. She says she tried to call them but in vain. “My mother is keeping me in a real information blockade and setting my children against me,” says Leif.

They have failed to split the coalition with “a Byelorussian hedge” During the Mar 24 elections of the board of Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament — REGNUM) Centrist party representative Toomas Varek was elected Speaker, Maret Marpuu and Ene Ergma first and second deputy speakers respectively.

According to the tradition, the office of Speaker and his first deputy is given to one of the ruling parties, while that of second deputy to the opposition. But this tradition was broken last March when resignation of the Juhan Parts government caused a reshuffle in the ruling coalition. The Res Publica party went into opposition. The offices of Speaker and his deputy were given to Republicans Ene Ergma and Taavi Veskimagi, while the ruling coalition had only one representative left — Centrist Toomas Varek.

The past elections might give a surprise. The ruling Centrists, Reformers and Populists had 52 out of 101 votes, while Speaker can be elected only by more than half of the votes. On the eve of the voting, the Social-Democrats demonstratively asked Foreign Minister, Reformer Urmas Paet to comment on an article by the Centrist Kesknadal daily, whose view of the last events in Belarus was different from the official FM stance. But the key point of the request was the mention of the author – Toomas Varek’s assistant. Despite this attempt to split the coalition with “a Byelorussian hedge,” 54 MPs voted for Varek, with his Pro Patria rival, academic Peeter Tulviste getting only 41 votes. (Estonian Youth)

Finnish media: Estonia has used its northern neighbors In its Mar 20 article the largest Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat rebukes Estonia for inability to remove the oil slick on its own. Estonia did not ask Finland for help not out of national dignity but for economic reasons – if you ask for help you have to pay, says Postimees. And so Estonia waited for Finland to offer help itself – which Finland finally did – for there was a danger that a strong wind could blow the oil to the Finnish shore. And Estonia simply used that help.

Director of Estonia’s Border Department Roland Peets disproves the charges. He says that after the sinking of Runner-4, the Interior Minister told him that Estonia was ready to pay for whatever help needed. “We had a relevant agreement with Finland. But having our own multi-functional EVA-316, we thought there was no need of emergency forces,” says Peets. Meanwhile, the Border Department reports that during the operation the Estonian ship was used mostly as an ice-breaker. (DELFI)

Estonian Byelorussians voted for Lukashenko 636 people took part in the election of the Byelorussian President in Estonia (Estonian Youth reports that there are almost 20,000 Byelorussians in Estonia with 500 of them being Byelorussian citizens and having right of vote — REGNUM)

The overwhelming majority of voters voted for acting Byelorussian President Alexander Lukashenko: 599 people gave their votes to him at the electoral district in the Byelorussian Consulate in Tallinn. Byelorussian Consul Yuri Bulavka says that the past election has shown that Lukashenko is the most popular politician among the Estonia-based Byelorussians. 20 people voted for the only opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich, 6 for Alexander Kozulin, 4 for Sergey Gaidukevich.

The youth organizations of all the parliamentary parties of Estonia organized a picket near the Byelorussian Consulate General in Tallinn Mar 19 to express their support for democracy in Belarus and their protest against “the authoritarian rule” of Byelorussian President Alexander Lukashenko. (Postimees)

Estonian FM: the election in Belarus was not free The preliminary findings of the OSCE observers say that the presidential election in Belarus was not free or democratic and did not comply with the international standards, says the Estonian FM’s report. Eesti Paevaleht reports the FM to express concern for the failure of the Byelorussian authorities to comply with the recommendations of the international organizations and to meet their commitments to the OSCE and the UN. The Byelorussian authorities have failed to create conditions for a free and democratic presidential election. “We condemn the Byelorussian authorities for ignoring the general accepted norms of democracy and human rights. We are shocked to see them using violence against the opposition candidates, arresting election activists and local independent observers, restricting the freedom of press and preventing pre-electoral assemblies,” says the FM. They also express their solidarity with the Byelorussian politicians who “in hard conditions, risking their personal security,” have still managed to offer a democratic alternative to their people.

Two Estonian observers detained in Belarus The Byelorussian authorities detained two Estonian observers in the center of Minsk Mar 20 evening. According to the preliminary reports, the representatives of the Open Estonia Foundation Tinis Leht and Erik Mora were detained not far from the Minsk central square, but they were not participating in the manifestation. They were searched and pushed into a car to be later interrogated by almost a dozen of rude people for a whole hour. Now they are free. The Open Estonia Foundation is indignant at such a treatment of its representatives and believes it to be one more proof that the election in Belarus was not democratic and that Belarus is ruled by a dictatorial regime. (Delovye Vedomosti)

SS officers to become “fighters for freedom” Riigikogu is considering a Pro Patria and Res Publika bill “On the Armed Struggle of Estonian Citizens Against the Soviet Occupation.” The authors of the bill believe that, in fact, the Estonian Republic “occupied” by the USSR during the WWII was legally existent in the international law, while the Estonians were fighting with arms against “the occupation” for “restoring the defied historical justice.” The bill says that the above “armed fight was a fight for freedom and the Estonian citizens involved therein were fighters for freedom.” The attached explanatory note gives several reasons for this. First, this will satisfy the veterans of the Hitler army. Second, this will specify the status of “the Forest Brothers” – all of them “need at least moral compensation for arrests, humiliation, loss of property, professional restrictions and other privations they went through under the Soviet regime after the war.” The notes have simply funny parts — saying that “Estonian citizens” took part in the Livonian, Northern, Russian-Turkish and Russian-Japanese wars. With such a pace they will shortly go back to the institution of Estonian citizenship – and also the problem of occupation — of the times of late Stone Age, says ME Sreda.

The Estonian youth show one of the lowest interest in the politics in Europe Such is the result of an EU-sponsored survey among 8,000 youths (15-25) in 8 European countries, reports Postimees. The survey has shown that young people in Estonia, the UK and Slovakia show almost no interest in the politics. But the Estonian youth are much more optimistic of the future than their peers in the West. Much more interested in the politics are youths in Germany, Italy and Austria. The survey has also shown that young people tend to show more confidence in NGOs, such as Greenpeace or Amnesty International, than in any political party. They say that the NGOs work much more effectively. Still they show more trust in the European institutions, such as the Council of Europe and the European Commission, than in their own national institutions. The key political instructors for the youth are, reportedly, school, press, parents and friends.

Lithuanians want to store their nuclear waste in Estonia The Lithuanian members of the European Parliament take it for granted that after building the joint Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, Estonia and Latvia will have to take care for its waste, reports Eesti Paevaleht. The European MP from Estonia Andres Tarand says that Lithuania has repeatedly said that each contractor state will have to store part of the waste and has informed the EP of this plan. The only depot for the waste in Estonia is the layer of blue clay on the northern steep coast, says Tarand. “But the problem is that this waste stays harmful for not just tens but thousands of years,” he says and notes that Premier Andrus Ansip’s signature under the joint NPP contract has given rise to many questions, with the most serious one being the storage of the waste. When the daily asked this question to Ansip, he said it was not time yet to speak about that. “Naturally, Eesti Energia does not think it realistic to store the waste in different places,” says the company’s spokesperson Helen Sabrak.

Eesti Energia: There will be no nuclear waste in Estonia Eesti Energia refutes the press reports that part of the waste from the new nuclear power plant in Lithuania will be stored in Estonia. “It is more expedient economically and technically to have one depot rather than three ones in different countries. We have not decided yet where to store the waste from the operating Ignalina NPP and are keeping it in a temporary depot for the time being,” says Eesti Energia Development Director Alo Kelder. “The waste from both the present and future plants will be stored in one place like they do it in Finland. We will probably keep the waste from both facilities in the same temporary depot — as building a new one will be expensive,” says Kelder (DELFI)

30,000 non-citizens will be given suffrage The Estonian Parliament will have to give suffrage to 30,000 resident non-citizens so as to play into the hands of the Centrist Party at the local elections in 2009, says Eesti Paevaleht. The Parliament will have shortly to lift the four-year ban on vote at local elections for those foreigners and non-citizens with residence permit who have not lived in their towns or provinces for five years by the time of the elections. The Justice Ministry says that this ban is contrary to the Constitution and is “a groundless restriction of a person’s right to freely move and choose his residence.” Hence, Justice Minister Rein Lang is going to submit draft amendments to the law on elections that will allow 29,856 foreigners and con-citizens to vote at local elections. Holding the “gray passports” in Estonia are mostly Russian-speaking residents, whose favorite party is the Centrists. But still to be able to vote they should have an at least 5-year residence in the country.

Civil advocates look for CIA prisoners in Estonia Amnesty International demands that Estonian Premier Andrus Ansip reports – if the US intelligence has used Estonian aerodromes or air space in arresting people, reports Eesti Paevaleht, with reference to Eesti Express. AI Secretary General Irene Khan says Estonia must demand relevant explanations from the US. In a letter to Estonian Interior Ministry, AI asks if they have got answers to its questions about CIA flights. Civil advocates are pushing the government to demand that the US report if the CIA has ever used Estonia’s air space or Estonia-based US planes for carrying military prisoners. Jan 12 2003 a CIA Boeing-737 was seen landing at Parnu aerodrome, but the authorities assure it had no prisoners onboard.

Estonian radio commentator: Lukashenko wants to become President of Russia Political commentator of Estonian Radio Hillar Nahkmann said in a morning program of Estonian TV that Byelorussian President Alexander Lukashenko wants to become president of Russia, reports Eesti Paevaleht, with reference to ETV-24. Lukashenko hopes to get the Russian presidency after Belarus joins Russia, who very much wants this to happen. “At the same time, this unification may give Russia many problems in economy as Belarus is one of the poorest countries in Europe. The Lukashenko regime is still in power just because it gets cheap oil, gas and other natural resources from Russia,” says Nahkmann. Still, he admits that Lukashenko is popular in Belarus, especially in rural areas.