According to data provided by Statistics Estonia, in May 2023, the total production of industrial enterprises was down by 12.7 percent on year at constant prices. Output declined in two of Estonia’s three main industrial sectors. It was down by 31.5 percent in electricity production and 13.1 percent in manufacturing.Continue Reading
Some of Estonia’s leading politicians involved in foreign policy matters have differing opinions on the suitability of Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, as potential new NATO secretary general, replacing another Scandinavian, Jens Stoltenberg. Frederiksen has been tipped by the international media as the most likely candidate to replace Stoltenberg –Continue Reading
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) believes she is unlikely to be handed the NATO top job because she comes from the alliance’s eastern flank and other countries are seen as more “eligible.” Kallas’ name has been mentioned along with several others, such as the UK’s Defense Secretary Ben WallaceContinue Reading
This winter, the Estonian Defense League (Kaitseliit) conducted a number of training sessions for Ukrainian snipers. Estonia also provided the Ukrainians with weapons and equipment. As some of the trainees had already seen action on the front line, the learning process was something of a two-way street. The training wasContinue Reading
As of the fall, upper secondary schools will be required to offer defense education courses. As a result, the Defense League will have to contribute more to the organization of defense education field programs and for that, raise additional funds, while the government will have to train more defense instructors.Continue Reading
NATO’s present defense plans in relation to Estonia and the wider region are perfectly adequate and satisfactory, MP and defense expert Kalev Stoicescu (Eesti 200) says. Stoicescu, who chairs the Riigikogu’s national defense committee, told ERR Thursday that: “NATO’s defense plans for the Baltic States, and the entire region inContinue Reading
Estonia’s largest defense training exercise Spring Storm (Kevadtorm) started on Monday and will last until May 26. Approximately, 14,000 personnel will take part. Army, Air Force, Navy and Defense League units, conscripts and reservists take part in the annual exercise, totaling around 9,000 personnel. Around half are reservists. The restContinue Reading
Despite the coalition’s quashing of filibustering in the Riigikogu on Monday, the opposition parties plan to stay their course. If the coalition fails to appropriate enough time for procedural questions and introducing new bills, the opposition will simply start filing clusters of draft legislation, which will be just as effectiveContinue Reading
The NATO enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) Battlegroup in Estonia recently marked six years of existence. Based primarily at Tapa, east of Tallinn, and with HQ staff in the capital, the battlegroup is one of four such set-ups, the others being in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. The Tapa-based eFP Battlegroup isContinue Reading
The “tax hump” in Estonia is a throwback, Incoming Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) says. Tsahkna says that while the phenomenon, also known as bracket-creep, arose during his time in office when he was leader of Isamaa (then known as IRL), it is now outdated, hence theContinue Reading