Opinion articles by Estonian and global opinion leaders
Divisions in Europe are nothing new, and a continent without them would be bland and uninteresting. But that is no reason to exaggerate them, or to make them more significant than they are. The desire to pigeonhole countries is deeply rooted: Catholic versus Protestant Europe, or Western Christian versus Orthodox; the countries that experienced the […]
Edward Lucas: Europe’s north-south divide Read More »
Although it may seem that Europe is down and out as it struggles with multiple crises, things are in fact far, far better than they appear on the surface. By Hans Kundnani & Mark Leonard This article first appeared in Foreign Policy magazine and European Council on Foreign Relations website. I “Europe is history” No. These days,
Is Europe declining or not? Read More »
For anyone who has had even the most rudimentary training in the musical arts or who enjoys high-quality music, the Eurovision Song Contest is something to be avoided at all costs. But to others it’s something of a yearly Olympics – if forgettable pop music were an Olympic sport. The Eurovision Song Contest began with
Adam Garrie: Is Eurovision a national obsession? Read More »
In rejecting the asylum plea of Omar, an interpreter who worked with Estonian troops in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, the Estonian government this week thumbed its nose at pretty much everything that’s been going for it in recent history. Admittedly, it may have thought itself in good company after the British government took a
Ahto Lobjakas: Estonia’s betrayal of Omar, the Pashtun interpreter Read More »
We should recognise the ever strengthening position of Portuguese-speaking people in the world. I borrowed the idea for this title from a magazine article published years ago which claimed that a young Spanish-speaking ‘Generation Ñ’ was bolstering its position in various fields in the United States. Be it as it may, the Portuguese ‘ã’, however,
Marin Mõttus: Are we witnessing the rise of a new generation ã? Read More »
LGBT rights (that’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual for the unaware) have always been an emotive issue. The US, UK and France have announced plans to enshrine marriage equality in law and, at least in the latter two, there is a likelihood of this political plan becoming a legal reality. Whilst feelings on both sides of the
Chris Glew: Estonia needs to address its false phobias Read More »
Let us begin with the premise that there is no universal morality. If one accepts this premise it logically follows that there can be no corporate (in the literal sense of ‘group’) morality. Politics is necessarily a corporate institution and therefore any attempts to interject a morality into politics is either an extension of one’s
Adam Garrie: Investment – attract don’t attack. A warning from Cyprus Read More »
Will the émigrés return? Countries between the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea, which have lost millions of their people in the past 20 years, certainly hope so. I have just been to two ‘émigré’ events at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) – one organised by its Baltic societies, another by
Edward Lucas: The lost homelands Read More »
Georg Singer, an Austrian expat and currently working as a development manager at the University of Tartu, shares his observations about Estonia. Every now and then I find myself immersed in Tartu’s nightlife. Estonia’s second biggest town still hosts some of those nicely improvised places to hang out. I often wonder if they ever make
Start-up nation Estonia: an Austrian’s view Read More »
By Toomas Hendrik Ilves, President of Estonia, on the 95th anniversary of the Republic of Estonia in Tallinn, 24 February 2013. Today, on the 95th anniversary of Estonia, the thought of independence has, once again, become natural. It neither requires interpretation nor explanation because it is a basic truth. Just as freedom is no longer
President Ilves: Estonia is like a wild strawberry Read More »
