Estonia to give money to Euroskeptics

TALLINN - To join or not to join: this is the question the Estonian
government says it hopes will be more vigorously debated in public
after it offers money for the first time to dissenters of the
European Union.

Prime Minister Mart Laar announced the government will allocate
200,000 kroons ($12,200) this summer to non-governmental
organizations' efforts to foster a more balanced discourse on
Estonia's bid to join the union.

"The aim is to provoke discussion in society and to raise public
awareness through activities. . .Euroskeptics have been called to
participate," said Eve Paavel, counselor to the state chancellery's
EU information secretariat.

The NGOs will have to complete an application process by Aug. 1 in
order to receive the money. Among the criteria for acceptance are
that the organization must have shown evidence of previous ambition
in stirring discussion on the EU in Estonia, as well as present the
plans for the projects it wants funded, according to Paavel.

Government spokesman Priit Poiklik said it isn't known yet exactly
what kinds of projects will be approved.

But Estonia's best-known Euroskeptic, Kalle Kulbok, isn't sure he
believes the country's leaders truly intend to fund those whom he
said are "serious in their views."

"I believe the government will support only those organizations which
are not hard opponents," he said, pointing out: "The money that is
given for 'Euro-propaganda' is more than a hundred times greater."

Kulbok explained that he joined the Euroskeptic movement in 1994 when
he was a member of Parliament's royalist faction, and when a
committee that worked with EU documents did not answer his questions,
he decided to try to answer them on his own.

His efforts resulted in euroskepsis.ee, an elaborate information and
activist-oriented Web site, which he has edited since early 1998.

Kulbok defended his anti-EU stance by declaring that the country's
leaders have ignored Estonia's constitution, the first article of
which states that Estonia's independence and sovereignty are timeless
and inalienable. Implicit in Estonia acceding to EU is the forfeiture
of at least some of its independence, thus violating the
constitution, he maintained.

"Only people can change this article by referendum. So by law, we
can't join the EU before the constitution is changed," he said.

Still, others were satisfied the government has taken a step toward
equalizing the debate on the issue.

"I think it's very important not to have only positive ideas in
society [with respect to the EU]," commented Ruth Tammeorg, head
consultant of the European Documentation Center, a University of
Tartu-based organization which supports research on all EU matters
and gives access to EU information and legislation.

Tammeorg praised the government's initiative, but pointed out that
200,000 kroons is still a relatively small amount of money.

In an article published June 15 in the daily Postimees, the prime
minister said that pro-EU campaigning should be balanced by strong
arguments from Euroskeptics.

"The one-sided 'Euro-propaganda' that we sometimes see is not to
Estonia's advantage. We need a businesslike discussion of this
topic," Laar wrote.