The hard-hit controversial labor contract bill took another blow when Economic Affairs and Communication Minister Juhan Parts refused to endorse it in the present wording. He follows Interior Minister Juri Pihl and Finance Minister Ivari Padar who have also declined to support certain measures which would severely limit worker job security and protection. All agree that reform is needed, however only with sufficient consultation and debate of workers and employees. The Confederation of Estonian Trade Unions heatedly rejects the current wording of the bill, which has so far been endorsed by the Ministries for Environment and Defense and the Association of Estonian Cities.
Estonia might soon find a new opportunity for exports in political documents. Former member of parliament Liia Hanni announced that she played a part in drafting the constitution for an independent Kosovo. Hanni spent one year analyzing and organizing work of the Kosovo Assembly and its president. A member of the Estonian Constitutional Assembly during its time, she recently worked as an expert in drawing up the constitution for the UN-administered Serbian province of Kosovo, which is set to declare independence in a matter of days. Hanni has declined to speak more about the document until it becomes public, an event for which the entire international arena is bracing itself.
Europe's annual festival of absurdity is set to begin again, and Estonia selected its representative. The comedy trio Kreisiraadio will be sent forward to perform the song "Leto Svet" for the 53rd Eurovision contest, which will be held in Belgrade this May. Peeter Oja, Hannes Vorno and Tarmo Leinatamm comprise the trio and will sing in Serbian, German and Finnish. The Estonian contest pulled 96,471 calls from viewers in a runoff between the final three selections. In close second came the song "Ice-Cold Story" performed by celebrity Iiris Vesik. The song "365 Days" pulled third in the running, sung by Birgit Oigemeel.
