Estonia is in favor of an early U.N. Security Council resolution on Iraq, Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland said this week. The minister said it would be desirable both for the recognition of the provisional Iraqi government, as well as for defining the further status of the international forces and a more precise role of the U.N. after the transfer of power to the provisional government. Ojuland pointed out that security risks in the world had increased in the past few years and Europe was no exception in this.
A warehouse full of inflammable material, such as old fuel, outside Tallinn caught fire on June 5. Luckily the contents did not explode, and firefighters managed to put out the flames. However, police asked residents of nearby districts to close their windows to avoid breathing noxious fumes.
A ninth-grade schoolboy in Tallinn reportedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his father's handgun on June 7. Police are investigating the details.
About 17,000 eligible votes for the European Parliament elections will not be counted since the voters are not in the residence registry, the daily Eesti Paevaleht reported June 7.
Legal Chancellor Allar Joks (photo) said the amendments to the law on Parliament elections contradict the constitution. The planned amendments would cancel the so-called compensation mandate clause that provides weaker parties with a place in Parliament. Joks said the amendments would further increase the role of the strongest parties in Parliament.
Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar said he wouldn't be surprised if the city's ruling coalition collapsed. The mayor, who leads the Center Party, said that its ally on the City Council, the Reform Party, had twice slammed the door to the government coalition, he said in an interview with the daily Postimees. "This is their style," he said. He said he did not rule out the possibility of the Reform Party, which is also part of the national ruling coalition, leaving the Tallinn power block now that a year had remained until the local elections.
