Borderline

Latvian president Valdis Zatlers and Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves will come together to mark the two countries' accession to the Schengen zone on 21 December at the Valga/Valka border crossing, where they will perform the ceremonial removal of the barrier dividing the two cities and countries.

"Taking into account the shared history of our cities (dating back 720 years - Ed.) and the partnership we share today, removing the physical barrier between them bears enormous significance for the future," said Valga mayor Ivar Unt. "With the border gone, the opportunities for our two countries to interact and work together will be even greater."

Alo vanishing on 21 December will be surly border guards in their boxes at Terminals A through D in the Port of Tallinn for ferries leaving for and arriving from Finland and Sweden (and any other Schengen countries, which in this case is to say Germany). Perhaps they'll all be packed off to the eastern front, where border crossings with Russia are, conversely, to be reinforced.

The Estonian jet-set will have to exercise a little more patience, however, as Schengen passport-free fun times for all at Tallinn (and, er, Kuressaare) Airport are not scheduled to be introduced until March - giving new members much needed extra time to complete the required terminal renovations.

Putting the 'tour' back in 'tourism'

Postimees has reported the results of the Country Brand Index 2007, unveiled yesterday at the opening ceremony of the World Travel Market in London, the world's biggest travel trade fair. Taking top place once again as the most popular destination among tourists and travel professionals was Australia. Estonia failed to make the grade in any of the Index's 22 categories.

This is perhaps not very surprising for a country whose tourist industry, such as it is, is geared almost exclusively towards Tallinn's Old Town and omnipresent spa services. Considering the great majority of tourists to the country though are here for a day or two at best (as well as how beautiful the Old Town is), this is perhaps the way it should be.

Of course, the argument works the other way: if there were well-established, wide-ranging tourist services that gave visitors the opportunity to see more of the country - and let's face it, nowhere is more than a daytrip away - they might just stay longer, with their experience of Estonia not limited to a stroll on Town Hall Square, a meal at Olde Hansa and a quick facial.

To any budding entrepreneurs out there thinking of coming to Estonia and wondering what kind of business might be worth starting: there is a gaping hole in the market here for organised tours, and so much more to show people in Estonia than 99% of them ever see.

http://www.countrybrandindex.com/

Predsjednik Mesić u Estoniji

Utorak, 06.11.2007., 06:00

ZAGREB/TALLIN - Predsjednik Stipe Mesić putuje u službeni dvodnevni posjet Estoniji gdje će ga primiti njegov kolega, estonski predsjednik Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Or in other words, Croatian president Stjepan Mesić has been in Estonia on an official visit to fellow president Toomas Hendrik Ilves, as reported in today's Postimees Online.

The Estonian president praised his counterpart on Croatia's stability, openness, democracy and rapid development as it heads towards membership of NATO and the European Union, declaring it a role model for the rest of the Balkans.

Mesić then met with Estonian prime minister Andrus Ansip, who reiterated the country's support for Croatia's bid to join the EU and NATO, describing the steps the former Yugoslav state has taken towards membership as greatly impressive.

Following up on comments from Ilves, Ansip then addressed what Croatia truly represents to the man in the street in Tallinn: a cheap[ish] option for summer holidays. "It's an attractive tourist destination for us Estonians," he said, encouraging closer economic ties between the two countries, and turning both of the stories reporting Mesić's visit into free ads for Estonian Air flights to Dubrovnik.

And why not? It's bloody beautiful. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. Apparently there are quite a few more Croatians making the trip to Estonia too nowadays. Coming from a country that statistically enjoys the most sunshine in the Adriatic or Mediterranean or wherever, Estonia must be popular among those in search of danker, greyer climes.

There's no such thing as a free (school) lunch

A story with an actual Australian-Estonian connection made it into the press earlier in the week (yes, I know I'm playing catch-up here) with the news that Estonia may consider adopting the Australian system of higher education payments.

For those who aren't aware of how this works, and assuming nothing has changed since I went to uni - any Australians reading this feel free to correct me if I'm wrong - the system, called HECS or the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, basically means you don't have to pay for your university studies until you can afford to. Which is to say you still have to pay for some of your fees, but the majority is covered by the government until such a time as you can afford to pay it back.

There is one great benefit to this system for someone like me, who pretty much left Australia as soon as I graduated with my degree: having never since worked in the country for long enough to earn more than the however-many-thousands-of-dollar limit requiring you to start repaying your HECS debt, I have not to date had to pay a cent for my education. Presumably though for other ordinary people still living and working in Australia it all works quite conveniently and much like any other kind of loan repayment.

The call for change in Estonia has come about [not only because the increased level of affluence means that more people can probably afford to pay for their own educations anyway but also] because currently there is a perceived inequality in the fact that some students pay nothing for higher education while others do. But the arguments for and against are many, and much the same as those raised in Australia prior to the introduction of HECS.

Former Dean of the University of Tartu, one-time candidate for Estonian President and current Minister of Defence Jaak Aaviksoo warns that despite the generally positive reactions to the potential introduction of the Australian system, any such change would be a hugely sensitive political issue. He also spoke for many in pointing out that "Anyone who doesn't have to pay for their education at the moment is hardly likely to want to in future".

Tõnis Lukas, Minister for Education, while not necessarily against the plan, sees things differently. He says that in a country like Estonia, which hardly has the biggest population in the world and where the number of university students is steadily dropping (due to decreases in birth rates and such, not because they can't be arsed) (presumably), it is equally possible that the government will end up paying everyone's fees rather than demanding that everyone pay them themselves.

Which, I have been told, is what they do in Finland. (Any Finns reading this feel free to correct me blah blah.) It would be nice to see Estonia transform into an educational utopia, but in the meantime it is just as nice to see that something pioneered in Australia has become the model that up-and-at-'em nations are looking to adopt.

Travel broadens the mind

In the latest Muusa, the editorial team put a set of questions to the writers contributing to the issue. One of them (the questions) was 'Reason to leave Estonia?'. One of them (the writers) responded in a way that very neatly encapsulated my own thoughts on why anyone would and indeed should leave their country and see a bit of the world. Coincidentally, the writer in question*, Merit Raju, has just moved to Australia. This is what she said:

Tunda, et elad. Kasvada suuremaks, õppida targemaks, avardada oma taluvuse, mõistmise, oskuste, teadmiste, võimete, tutvusringkonna ja maitsete piiri, vaadata kaugemalt ning mõista, mis ja kes on olulised ja kes sa ise oled.

To feel that you're alive. To grow bigger, to grow wiser, to push the limits of your tolerance, your understanding, your skills, your knowledge, your abilities, your circle of acquaintances and your tastes, to see further and to appreciate who and what is important and who you are.

(At the same time, when asked 'Reason to stay in Estonia?' she said, a little harshly but probably quite rightly, that Estonia is the right place for Estonians - it is a "cold country with cold people".)

http://www.muusa.eu/

*no pun intended

Mis russofoobia, kus?

Karmo Tüür, a political scientist from the University of Tartu, had this to say on relations between Russia and Estonia in an article on Delfi yesterday:

There is only one country in the world that has a problem with the Baltic States, as it pretty much does with all of its neighbours: the Russian Federation. A great and powerful nation that seems to think it is constantly under threat.

Even its closest allies like Belarus get a cuff around the ears from time to time for deviant behaviour. Sociological vox populi show that it is their tiniest neighbours — the Baltic States and Georgia — that Russians consider most hostile.

The typical accusation the country levels at its former Soviet cellmates is that of 'Russophobia': that these tiny little countries are afraid of their great big neighbour and therefore constantly stirring up trouble. The best evidence of this is meant to be the way these countries behave towards Russians — the self-same Russians who descended upon the wretched outposts of the red empire in days of yore, bringing with them a bright future and socialism for all.

Latvia and Estonia are mauled with particular savagery for it, and Lithuania is regularly roped in for its share too, in a 'one in all in' kind of way. Discrimination is the most trivial of the charges laid at the three countries' doors: genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing are terms that are bandied about all too often.

And all because these countries — now fully-fledged members of the European Union — are alleged to flaunt a panoply of European norms. They forbid their residents and citizens from speaking Russian, you know, and, worse, force them to speak the national language!

I'd recommend to the people making these claims that they think about things a bit and look at the situation with eyes that have not been blinkered by propaganda.

Read the rest of the article (in Estonian) at http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/arvamus/article.php?id=16901720.

Banana republic?

In a recent essay entitled Where is Estonia's pura vida?, Martin 'Everyone Thinks I'm Gay But I'm Not I Tell You' Kala draws comparisons between the Central American nation of Costa Rica and ye olde Estonia. ("It's not hard to find similarities," he assures sceptical readers.)

Why don't Estonians simply want to enjoy life instead of always striving to cause problems, asks Martin Kala.

[In Costa Rica] pura vida is about taking it easy and enjoying life as it comes, regardless of how much you have or how big your neighbour's property is. [In Estonia] we value personal wealth and we talk about economic growth; we are proud of the fact that we are independent, that we have our own national colours, our own anthem, our own money and our own president. We love our nation and culture, and although we do not trust our government, it promises to raise us up among the five richest countries in Europe before we know it.

But you often register anger and bitterness in the attitudes of Estonians: a negative way of thinking that in future will leave us depressed and unemployable, at which point we will question whether we wanted an Estonia like that, without asking ourselves what we contribute as a nation to the process of change. If you want things to change you have to start from the individual. How do you marry subjective satisfaction and success at the national level?

We need to feel that we truly are a nation and that we are all responsible for its future, and for our own wellbeing and shared sense of security. We need to start thinking more along the same lines, for as long as we fail to try, we will never see any results. And until then our successful little country won't be characterised by pura vida, but rather that old chestnut mañana. Except that its meaning to Estonians will not be the hope-filled tomorrow or one day, but rather the disappointment-laden not today...

http://www.postimees.ee/010907/esileht/arvamus/280331.php

Everybody needs good neighbours

BBC News has published an article entitled Baltic neighbours face alcohol crisis. It provides a pithy snapshot of life in Estonia and Finland. Here is an abridged version.

The Estonian government plans to raise taxes on alcohol next year as the small Baltic nation of 1.3 million is struggling with a drink problem. The BBC's Baltic correspondent Laura Sheeter examines the effects of heavy drinking in Estonia and neighbouring Finland, where Baltic booze cruises remain popular.

Grey-faced patients barely respond to the doctors and nurses treating them in intensive care at the North Estonian regional hospital. Many of them are here because of alcohol.

Heavy drinking is widespread in Estonia, which comes near the top of EU rankings for alcohol consumption. On average each Estonian drinks 12 litres of pure alcohol each year - and every year they are drinking more. Experts warn that if the trend continues, alcohol will contribute to an irreversible population decline.

The tax hike may sound like good news, but anti-alcohol campaigners say it is unlikely to help. The government, they say, has kept taxes low for years to boost economic growth, despite rising alcohol consumption. They argue that it is only raising taxes now because it is not planning to join the eurozone soon, so it is no longer worried about a tax rise pushing up inflation.

At the Ministry of Social Affairs, they are barely more optimistic. Chief public health officer Andrus Lipand says the government asked for a national alcohol strategy, but his proposals to limit sales and advertising are simply being ignored. "Our government supports a so-called liberal alcohol policy. It's a conflict between health and business, and at the moment business is winning."

Yet the Estonian tax hike has been welcomed on the other side of the Baltic Sea, by the Finnish government. When Estonia joined the EU in 2004, the Finns, worried that people would travel to Tallinn to buy cheap liquor, cut their own alcohol tax. But the plan did not work. Finns just started drinking more. Hundreds of thousands of them catch the ferry from Helsinki to Tallinn and return home with crates of cheap booze.

In the last three years there has been a sharp rise in alcohol-related diseases and crime in Finland, and drink has become the country's number one cause of death among adults. Now, encouraged by the Estonian tax rise, the Finnish government has announced that taxes will go up there too.

Shoppers on one weekend ferry had mixed feelings about the rise. Some wanted to see an altogether more liberal alcohol policy in Finland, while others said they were worried about heavy drinking in Finland - but none of them thought it would stop them shopping in Estonia. One told me that if the price got too high, he would just go to nearby Latvia instead.
_____

There's loyalty for you. And I was about to say how nice it is to see that Finland and Estonia still share such strong ties. For the full text of the article, go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6957153.stm.

Clash of the Titans

Estonia has beaten Andorra 2:1 in tonight's Euro2008 qualifier played at Lilleküla Stadium. This lifts Estonia from the bottom of the Group E table and the shame of ending in last place with a big fat nought - the fate now facing Andorra, whose tournament so far has seen them score a whole 2 goals whilst conceding 30, losing an impressive eight games out of eight. Top level football doesn't get any better than this.

He's coming home

A report in today's Äripäev business daily suggests that the gulf between Finland and Estonia may be getting smaller - and we're not talking tectonic plates. While there are as yet no statistics to support the claim, the pay on building sites the length and breadth of Ye Olde Suomi is said to no longer be sufficiently higher than it is in Estonia for our hard-hat labourers to bother working abroad, and the boys are heading home.

This is good news for me, as I may finally be able to find someone who can turn the pile of tiles gathering dust on my balcony into something.

Military prostitution

An opinion piece by Edgar Velbri, 'libertarian socialist', appeared on Delfi today questioning the reasoning behind Estonia's involvement in other people's wars. It makes several good points, not the least of which being that the people in Afghanistan and Iraq (in particular) are arguably worse off these days than they were before The West decided they needed rescuing. The column ends with this rather pithy paragraph:

"Ma ei ole kuulnud mitte ühtegi mõjuvat ja arvestatavat põhjust, miks me peaksime nendest sõdadest osa võtma ning pakkuma USA-le oma poliitilist ning sõjalist toetust ilma küsimusi esitamata. Ma ei ole kuulnud mitte ühtegi arvestatavat põhjust, miks me peaksime müüma ennast nagu poliitilist libu. Ilmselt on asi selles, et seda põhjust ei olegi."

__________

"I have yet to hear a single convincing argument for our involvement in these wars and for offering the United States our political and military support, no questions asked. I have yet to hear a single convincing argument why we should be selling ourselves like some political whore. Patently because no such argument exists."

Other than the fact, of course, that now Estonia is playing in the same backyard as the big boys, it is desperate to impress them. Besides, it's not like it isn't a mutually beneficial arrangement: there are rumours that Estonians may finally be able to travel to America without a visa... within a year! Maybe.

http://www.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/arvamus/article.php?id=16517942

Tolerance has two faces

This in response to a well-balanced opinion piece by Anu Aaremäe in Eesti Ekspress entitled "Kas kitsarinnalisuse vastu on pilli?" / "Is there something you can take for narrow-mindedness?" (Text in Estonian accompanied by my translation.)

Piip said:

Hetkel eestis valitsev tolerants on näiline - homo olla on OK nii kaua, kui nad sellest ise ei räägi. Ehk ole, aga varja, siis ma sind armastan.

Paraadide mõte on neid arvamusi murda - öelda, et homol on õigus tänaval kõndida ka siis, kui sulle-mulle-teistele ei jäeta illusiooni nende "mitte-homoks" olemisest.

Ja mina näiteks lähen koos nendega kõndima. Sest ka mul, linnakodanikul, on õigus käia tänaval ka siis, kui minu kõrval kõnnib end mittevarjav homo. Sest praegu, kas tead, mul ei ole seda õigust - arvestades möödunud aastal lennanud kive, mune, sõimu. Ja neid kommentaaregi, mis iga sellise artikli alla tulevad.

Mina seisan selle eest, et minu lapsed kasvaks üles teadmises, et võrdsus väärib võitlemist. Vabadusel ei saa olla piiranguid ühe või teise grupi suhtes lihtsalt seetõttu, et sinul isiklikult on neid raske mõista. Alati leidub keegi, kes sind ennast ei mõista - ja ühel päeval, kui homod, venelased, moslemid ja kõik teised vähemusgrupid on maatasa tehtud, jääd sina neile hambu. Mõtle sellele.

Maailm peab olema mitmekesine - ja ei ole nii, et kui ma üht asja ei toeta, peaks kohe vastu olema. Ma ei pea olema homo, et toetada kellegi teise õigust olla homo ilma, et ta pidevalt oma elu ja närvide pärast kartma peaks.

_____

What tolerance there is in Estonia these days is superficial – it's OK to be gay as long as you don't tell us you are. That is, be gay, but don't show it, and I'll accept you with open arms.

The point of the parade is to break people out of these ways of thinking – to say that a gay person has the right to walk down the street even if the illusion of their 'non-gayness' is shattered for you and me and everyone else.

I for one will be joining the parade. Because I have the right to walk down the street too when someone who is not afraid to show that they are gay is walking beside me. Because at the moment I don't have that right, given the stones and eggs and insults hurled last year. And the comments that are posted under any article that has anything to do with it.

I want my children to grow up in the knowledge that equality is something you should fight for. You can't restrict one or another group's freedom simply because you don't get them. There will always be someone who doesn't understand you – and one day, when all of the gays, and the Russians, and the moslems, and all the other minorities are dead and buried, you'll get yours. Think about it.

The world has to be a diverse place – and if I don't support something, it doesn't mean I'm necessarily against it. I don't have to be gay to support someone else's right to be gay without having to constantly fear for his life and sanity.

I wonder if that's the majority view. I certainly hope it is. You only ever hear the voices that shout loudest, but at least Piip is living proof that there are people in Estonia who perceive individual freedom for what it is and not as a threat.

On a whim and a prayer

I met up with a guy yesterday who is about to embark on a year-long trip to Australia and was seeking a bit of advice. He'd heard from some Estonian acquaintances in Brisbane that Australia wasn't all it was cracked up to be*, so I imagine he was also seeking some reassurance. I championed my homeland to the best of my abilities, which are pretty limited, since he kept asking questions that ended in the words "these days", and since I haven't lived there permanently for the best part of seven years, I really have no idea. He nevertheless seemed buoyed by what I had to say, so the spin I put on it must have been positive enough.

The course of our conversation inevitably led to him asking me why I had come to Estonia, which is still a question I don't have a satisfying response to. You'd think I would seven years after first getting here, but I don't. I admire this guy - Jarkko is his name - for the preparation he is putting in to ensure that everything works out for him, at least in terms of getting himself set up, but it made me realise again how random my decision to come to Estonia was, and how lucky you can sometimes be when a whim pans out.

I've always been a firm believer that things will tend to work out the way you want them to, or at least that things will go as they go and there's not much you can do about it, apart from engineer them. That probably sounds paradoxical and naive by turns, but I don't know how else to express it. When I decided to leave Italy I could have ended up anywhere, but I chose Estonia. I wouldn't go so far as to say it chose me, but whatever the reasons were that I had for coming here - and I honestly can't remember what they were now; a vague interest in the language and a job offer, more or less - it certainly ended up being the right choice.

It could very easily have been the wrong one, I suppose, and in my first month here I did wonder if I'd selected too hastily. But you make your own luck, I think, and from the moment I consciously decided to invest myself in the place I haven't looked back. In that sense I suppose the outlook is good for Jarkko - he's been investing himself in his trip to Australia for quite some time already, and he's not even there yet. He's also very level-headed about the whole thing and not going into it with the bar raised too high, which his friends seem to have done. He'll just take things as they come, rather like I did. I sincerely hope things works out as well for him as they have for me.

*They were shocked that you can't get by on just a T-shirt at night in the middle of winter, even in Australia.

Cradle of philosophy vs Crock of philosophy

The following is the English translation (provided, and paraphrased, by yours truly) of an opinion piece that appeared in today's Eesti Päevaleht. I can't begin to enumerate the points on which I disagree with the author, 'Mart Raukas, philosopher'. Unless his tongue is very firmly in cheek and he's not the self-satisfied liberal he seems to be. (I have sought a second opinion.) He would appear to have written it on, or based on, a recent flight from Crete to Tallinn.
____________

There are few things in the world that influence people’s happiness quite as strongly as being compared to their neighbours.

Those who once measured how well-off they were against nothing more than the achievements of their closest neighbours have now begun to draw comparisons with the achievements of people who form part of different cultures altogether. And wherever these comparisons bring positive results, such superiority tends to take on a patriotic form.

Compared to Estonians, the Greeks – however illustrious their history – are no longer a cultured people, not when you look at the country’s attitude to the economy and social norms. The Greek government closes its eyes to the budget deficit, produced by the ‘black money’ that so massively circulates – not properly issued bank loans, like we have here in Estonia.

Greece lags well behind us in terms of its policy on alcohol, too: the government there has proven unable to do anything to stop local production of moonshine, which goes on in every village in the country. Its unwillingness to raise excise and impose new duties has made the Greeks complacent, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for our government to teach their southern colleagues a thing or two about how things should be done.

Not that it’s just the success of our economy we should take pride in; we should also be proud of our cultivation of the latest social trends.

The Greeks have tied casinos up in their apron strings at the state level, viewing them as dens of folly. Our Minister for Social Affairs, conversely, appears to represent the government’s position, which is that gambling addiction is the free choice of every citizen and that it is not the government’s place to step in. Estonians and Greeks also have diametrically opposed views when it comes to sex and gender equality.

And isn’t the famous Greek art of war in something of a downward spiral? How else can you explain the fact that, at a time when our soldiers are dying on foreign missions protecting the children and the elderly of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Greeks haven’t even got the courage to chip in with a support unit?

Estonia is conspicuous for its success. Much of it is due to the trans-Atlantic coalition we are part of, in which me have earned ourselves trusted partner status. What this trustworthiness has given us is a government who are two times as good as their Finnish colleagues when it comes to how often they have met the leaders of the United States.

www.epl.ee/arvamus/391128

How shall I put it?

A friend of mine, born in Texas, currently residing in New York City, previously of Tallinn, pointed out that for a first post, anyone would think I actually didn't like the place much at all. But it's a lot easier to enunciate the negatives, you see.

To balance things out, I thought I would reveal one of my great Estonian loves.

No, not the association itself, although you've got to love any logo that features such a beatific sow.

Estonia is home, without doubt, to the finest pork and ham products in the world. And for someone who likes his white meat, this is a positive boon.

Blame the Dutch

And the Americans. It's really only in response to things that a couple of friends of mine* said about blogs never being worth reading that I thought I would start my own. Take that as you will.

Not sure who I expect to read it. Next to no one, presumably, given I've lived here for almost seven years and that any cultural references I make are likely to mean very little to anyone who is just planning to visit Estonia. And the readership who it might mean something to are probably the same people who'll hear me spouting off about such things anyway. Hmmm.

Bit of a potted history then: Australian, 29, lived in Estonia since 2000, having moved here with a teaching degree from Italy. Studied languages at university, with a triple major in Japanese, Latin and Italian, none of which have proven to be of any use to me other than in perhaps picking up languages generally more quickly. Spent roughly the first five years of my life here in Tallinn teaching English before making the switch to translating, having taught myself Estonian in the meantime. I've also authored and co-authored a couple of textbooks since I've been here, and worked as the Production Team Supervisor on the Eurovision Song Contest in 2002.

Most people ask me "why Estonia?" and my answer is always the same: vague. I don't really know. It was largely whim that brought me here in the first place, and I'm glad it did. Sometimes you just find yourself somewhere and think: this is right. I don't love my adopted country unreservedly; I'm too much of a realist, and too opinionated, and lucky to have been brought up in a country that never faced the struggles Estonia has.

I admire its pluck, but deplore its smugness. I love the fact that it is a quiet achiever, but hate it when that self-sufficiency is redressed, as nothing more than a means to an end, as vulnerability. I respect the people for their unwavering determination and unwillingness to submit to other people's values, but detest the hipocrisy and intolerance that this engenders.

Estonia is a complex place, ever-changing, and yet somehow always the same. And perhaps it's that very balance, odd though it may be, that I remain drawn to.

*you guessed it, one Dutch and the other American