Lonely hamburger to tempt Estonians in e-voting test

Bidding to spice up the lacklustre campaign for June 4-7 elections to the European Parliament, organisers hope such fare will encourage young Estonians to participate in the new high-tech voting system. Among the specialities on offer are traditional Estonian dumpling soup and the local karask scone, but those seeking more of an international flavour can opt to vote for spaghetti al pomodoro, tiramisu or a simple espresso. The lonely hamburger is supposed to reflect independent candidates not linked to any party. Estonia s electoral committee hopes the test poll, which will be available on the www.valimised.ee webpage from May 28 to June 3, will also iron out any glitches in the new online voting system. The colourful menu is designed to attract more Estonians to learn how the system works and engage in the electoral process.

Estonia to borrow from Swedbank, EIB, use reserves

Estonia has hit a deep recession and has struggled to find ways to finance its budget deficit, which it wants to keep under the European Union level of 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) so it can adopt the euro in 2011. We have a budget deficit of three percent, this is one of the means to cover the deficit, Prime Minister Andrus Ansip told a news conference, when asked about the Swedbank loan. Estonia has no government debt market and has followed a conservative policy in borrowing since the fall of the former Soviet Union in 1991. Most of its loans have come from multilateral lenders. Finance Minister Ivari Padar said the Swedbank loan was offered at Euribor plus 2.75 percent. The government said in a statement it planned to borrow 2.35

Georgian soldiers were treated in Estonia

Georgian soldiers were treated in Estonia Four members of the Georgian Defence Forces who were injured during the Russian-Georgian conflict in August 2008 spent a week in the rehabilitation treatment facility in Seli in Estonia, writes EPL Online LETA. The members of the Georgian Defence Forces were treated in the Ministry of Defence s rehabilitation centre, receiving massage, water procedures and rehabilitation exercises. The head of the Seli Health Centre, Teet Lainevee, M.D. They were very satisfied with the rehabilitation procedures we offered, he explained. After the conflict in August, Georgia turned to a number of countries with a request to help them by providing treatment and rehabilitation treatment to the members of Defence Forces who were injured. Source http: baltic-course.com eng baltic news

Stupidity as a political statement

These fears highlight a problem Estonia still suffers from that should have been resolved a long time ago. More than 30 percent of the population of the country is Russian-speaking, and an uncomfortably large portion of those residents speak only a smattering of the national language. Teachers that oppose the language requirements for educators say that many of those who have been 20 years of experience working in the country will be replaced by inexperienced newcomers - which will ultimately bring the quality of education throughout the entire country down. But this begs the question: if someone has been working in a country for more than 20 years and has still not bothered to learn the state language, do they really have the spark for learning necessary to be a good teacher?

OECD tells vulnerable Estonia to overhaul its economy

In its Economic Survey of Estonia 2009, presented in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, the OECD said a collapse in domestic demand had left Estonia vulnerable to external shocks and that the main challenge facing Estonian policymakers was to bring the economy quickly back to trend growth, which is complicated because of past policy commitments. The Paris-based organization, sometimes referred to as a club for 30 of the world s richest countries, came up with four main recommendations for EU member state Estonia. Estonia wants to become an OECD member despite the small size of its economy and the fact that it is experiencing one of Europe s deepest recessions. In 2007 it agreed a roadmap to membership with the OECD which commits its to a free market economy. Measures suggested include a medium-term budgetary framework incorporating expenditure ceilings and a fresh approach to the real estate market.

Tallinn is offering the City Hall to US billionaire Lauder s

According to the notice issued by Tallinn city administration they have found an investor for the City Hall (Linnahall) an enterprise where the US billionaire Ronald Lauder is a majority shareholder, aripaev. ee writes. «We re dealing with a preliminary agreement where the building rights are the base of the negotiations over the terms,» Deputy Mayor Taavi Aas explained. «Pre-agreement fixes those standpoints that the two sides will be discussing. The aim of the two sides is to design the City Hall into an attractive and versatile entertainment complex, at the same time, considering the historical and architectural stipulations,» he added. According to Aas an US company established in 2007, Tallinn Entertainment LLC, is interested in investing into this voluminous venture and its goal is to bring a lot of entertainment into Estonia including accommodation and cultural events as well as luxury hotels, entertainment establishments, music and art.

The fast and the furious

TALLINN - Though from the headline one might expect this to be a movie review, this is actually about a place where people can experience for themselves the thrill of race car driving. The movie may have explosions, violence and beautiful women, but Tallinn s go-cart race tracks offer no less fun and excitement. After a long, quiet and slow winter, the time has finally come for people to pull themselves together and wake up, as the spring and summer tempo of life is starting to show its face. To date, nobody has invented anything better for the human body to wake up than a surge of adrenalin through the bloodstream. Just imagine being dressed up in a racing suit, just like a Formula 1 star with a shiny helmet and driving gloves, sitting down in a car, turning the key and hearing the powerful engine start to rumble.

Estonian economy seen shrinking 8.5 pct this year

TALLINN - Estonia s economy will contract 8. Finance Ministry announced Tuesday, as the government said it would attempt to adopt the euro in 0. The new forecast is a sharp revision from a 3. Baltic state s recession. Last year, gross domestic product contracted 3.6 percent due to a slowdown in industrial production and domestic demand. Finance Minister Ivari Padar said the new figures will affect Estonia s goal to adopt the euro before 2011 and also require reworking the budget. In the light of the new forecast, options for joining the euro zone and in the long term, budget policy will certainly have to be reviewed, Padar said in a brief statement. Despite the publication of the latest grim forecast, the government said Estonia will seek to join the euro zone by Jan.

Russian, Estonian Youth Stage Demonstrations in Helsinki

Dozens of members of the Russian Nashi («Ours») youth organisation and the Night Watch, a group seeking to promote interests of Russophones living in Estonia, staged a demonstration on Monday at the head office of the Sanoma Corporation. The groups protested the release of the article compilation Fear Behind Us All ( Kaiken takana oli pelko ), compiled by Imbi Paju and Sofi Oksanen. The articles deal with the Baltic countries recent Soviet history. The publication of the anthology marks 60 years since the March deportations took place in Estonia and 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain. «This anthology sheds light on life behind the Iron Curtain from the perspective of occupation-era Estonia and the other Baltics,» states the press release by the compilation s publisher WSOY, part of the Sanoma conglomerate.

Estonia s e-President hails the Skype effect

The event centred on a debate about innovation with Skype CEO Josh Silverman and was broadcast live on the internet with participants from around the world posing questions. Skype represents an ideal of what we think Estonia should be - a small group of people come together and come up with a really brilliant idea that becomes known all over, said Ilves. Skype, the internet telephony service that now has more than 30 million daily users around the world, was created by Swede Niklas Zennstrom and Dane Janus Friis, backed by a team of four Estonian software engineers based in Tallinn. To this day, more than half of Skype s global workforce is in the Estonian capital. Estonians remain proud of the role they played in developing Skype, which still accounts for around half the private sector research and development money spent in the country.