Eesti in brief - 2010-02-10

  • 2010-02-10

The European Human Rights Court last year registered 204 complaints submitted against Estonia, which is a fifth more than in 2008, reports LETA. However, 169 complaints were deemed inadmissableand deleted from the list of cases sent to Estonia for a response. The contents of the complaints focused on unreasonably long procedures, different aspects of criminal proceedings, forced medical treatment of persons, etc. The UN Human Rights Committee has three complaints against the Estonian state in its proceedings.

On Feb. 3, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves met with the city government in Tartu Town Hall, reports president.ee. The head of state praised the civic authorities for their efforts to improve the quality of life of Tartu’s residents despite the financially challenging times, saying it set an example for the rest of the country. President Ilves encouraged Tartu to make greater use of the opportunities of the European Union’s structural funds for the city’s development. “We have to act wisely, and we have to act quickly, because if the local government is not forceful in applying, someone else will get this EU money – and yet the structural funds are the perfect regional policy lever to prevent everything from focusing on Tallinn,” he said. While in Tartu, the president visited Sangar, the biggest shirt manufacturer in the Baltic States and Scandinavia. Ilves also visited southern Estonia’s leading metals industry company, Metec, which manufactures car parts and agricultural, forestry and roadwork machinery.