Eesti in brief - 2004-10-20

A Tallinn city court has found Kalle Kuusik, head of the Foreign Affair Ministry's administrative department, guilty of document forgery and smuggling. From 1998 to 2000, Kuusik brought three cars into Estonia on false information and forged documents to avoid paying VAT and toll duties. He was fined 4,700 euros, to be paid within eight months. He will also have to reimburse the state for 16,000 euros in damage.

The Russian club of the ruling Res Publica party has elected to its board a man who threatened to destroy the controversial World War II monument at Lihula. The club, which Prime Minister Juhan Parts chairs, re-elected Maksim Savitski as chairman of its governing board, with Jevgeni Krishtafovitsh, Maria Keris, Natalja Tereping and Vitali Gaitshonok elected as members. "Thinking Russians have for long been disappointed with the administration of Edgar Savisaar," Savitski said of the change of power in the capital.

Tallinn may become the venue for the 38th chess olympics in 2008. Newly elected Mayor Tonis Palts sent a letter to the World Chess Federation, assuring that the city would be ready to welcome event participants from 150 countries. Palts wrote that Tallinn would host the event in honor of Estonian chess master Paul Keres. Apart from Tallinn, the German city of Dresden is also competing. The Congress of the World Chess Federation will choose the venue on Oct. 29. Thanks to its recently appointed president, supermodel Carmen Kass, the Estonian Chess Union hopes to promote the game at home and elsewhere.

Russia's Ambassador Konstantin Provalov said in an interview with the Postimees daily this week that ethnic Russian residents of Estonia feel discouraged by their lack of opportunity for public involvement. Provalov described Estonian-Russian relations as "quite normal," unlike Foreign Affairs Minister Kristiina Ojuland, who earlier called them "frigid."

Prime Minister Juhan Parts discussed EU matters with his British counterpart Tony Blair in London on Oct.19. Blair acknowledged Estonia's work in economic reforms and emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two nations on EU issues. Both PMs agreed that EU member states must build strategic EU-Russia relations together and that Russia's focus on democracy and Europe should be based on European values.

A record amount of ecstasy pills, the largest so far in Northern Europe and the Baltics, was discovered in a lab in Parnu county Oct.13, police said. Apart from over 300,000 ecstasy pills, some 10 kilograms of MDMA powder and firearm ammo were found in the lab. Police arrested eight individuals suspected of drug manufacturing and sales. The street value of the seized drugs was roughly 3.2 million euros. Police also announced that five kilograms of cocaine, worth about 511,000 euros, were found in a truck in Parnu earlier last week.